Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time
by Domingize
Summary: PMD Explorers Story - Grovyle is on his way to collect the first Time Gear. But when he arrives at Treeshroud Forest, he discovers that time has already stopped. Who could have taken the Time Gear before him? A story with plot-twists around every corner!
1. An unexpected Reunion

**Pokemon Mystery** **Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.  
**

**However, I do own the new characters and abilities in this story.**

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Welcome, to a world solely inhabited by Pokemon.

Though something about this world is different. The Pokemon from this world have a much greater potential than those from other worlds you might know.

The creatures in this world are able to learn as many attacks as they can remember... Their strength is determined by their skills and experiences. A lot of new abilities exist in this universe. They can be learned by training as well.

What you are about to see is one of the many stories that took place in that world.

The continent of Treasure has a certain connection with one of the worlds most sacred places. Temporal Tower. It keeps time itself intact and is the home of the legendary Pokemon Dialga.

But a certain event has caused the destruction of the structure, plunging the world into an everlasting darkness.

Two beings have taken the task upon themselves to change that.

These series of events have happened in a lot of different worlds. People refer to it as... the Time Gear Crysis.

However, in the universe you are in right now... It's a little different.

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**Chapter 1 - An unexpected Reunion**

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It was a stormy night.

A shadow was rushing through the forest, the light from the lightning revealing its identity. It was a green gecko with a red underbelly and leaves sticking out of its arms and rear. On its head was a single leaf resembling hair. The creature was a Pokemon, a male Grovyle to be precise. A brown leather bag could be seen on his back.

'I should be there soon.'

The grass-type thought as he dashed through the woodland.

'Threeshroud Forest. If she was right, then this one should be the easiest one to get.'

Threeshroud Forest was one of the places said to hold a Time Gear, an ancient artifact keeping time itself intact.

He was jumping through the trees at top speed, meaning that it would only take him several more minutes before he would reach the border of the forest.

When the Grovyle arrived at his goal, he gasped.

In front of him was a wall of raindrops. They were just floating midair. The grass, the trees, everything was grey. Upon entering the wall he couldn't feel the raging winds from the storm anymore.

"What the..."

A shocked expression could be seen on his face.

'How could this happen? Did she...? Could she have survived the attack? Could she have been here before me? No... She wouldn't be fast enough to escape the shockwave...'

Grovyle began to worry.

'I knew she would do everything to achieve a goal but something like this would just be stupid... Dammit! I have to make sure.'

He dashed towards the center of the forest.

The floating droplets were annoying to him. The grass-type couldn't run at his top speed. They would move out of the way if he touched them but if he ran fast enough it felt like being hit with little pebbles.

After a while he finally made it to the center of forest, the place where the Time Gear should be.

The Grovyle examined the clearing. Any clues would have helped him.

'Okay now, I have to find out if it was really her or...'

He had not thought about the option that somebody else than "her" could have taken the Time Gear.

'What if it was him... No, he couldn't have come after us that fast.'

Just then something caught his attention. A blue doglike creature was laying a couple of feet away from him. It didn't move, so he assumed that it was either asleep, unconscious, or dead.

He approached the creature.

'Hmm, it still has color... Which means that it must have gotten her after the blast.'

He examined the creatures features. It had black fur on its chest and blue fur on its arms and upper legs. Under its neck was something like a yellow collar. Its feet were also black. It had a doglike head with blue ears and head. It had something like a black mask over its eyes and on the left and right side of its head were two appendages that looked like an extra pair of ears.

It was a Riolu.

The gecko couldn't quite tell if it was male or female. This was the second time the Grovyle had seen this species.

Just then he noticed a strange glow on its right paw. A strange symbol was embedded on its fur.

The moment he tried to look at it, the Riolu stirred.

'At least it's still alive...'

The Grovyle let out a deep sigh.

'What now?... Maybe this Riolu knows something.'

Another sigh escaped his mouth.

'I have to get it out of here.'

With that thought, he grabbed the Pokemon and threw it over his shoulder. The Riolu was smaller than him so carrying it was not much of a problem.

He carried the unconscious Pokemon all the way out of the forest. When he reached the border of the forest, he noticed that the storm had stopped. The sun was about to rise. The gecko could tell by the slightly red sky on the horizon.

He was about to witness a sunrise.

The first sunrise of his life.

He walked down the dirt road leading away from the forest, the Riolu still unconscious on his shoulder.

As time passed the horizon got redder and redder. Everything around him got brighter. He could see colors. The green from the grass and the leaves on the trees. The brown from the tree bark. Everything was new to him, but the thing that impressed him the most was the sun itself. He was walking down a hill so he had clear vision on the horizon. He could see about half of the sun and the colors around it were just astounding to him. The blinding yellow of the sun itself turned into orange. From orange to red and then slowly to a normal blue sky.

As the sunrays touched his skin, the grass-type was stunned for a moment. He had never felt something like this before. He felt like he could lift the world.

The Grovyle sighed. 'I wish she could see this.'

He kept on walking until he felt completely exhausted. After all, he had been up all night and ran though a thunderstorm.

'Well, I should find a place to rest.' He left the road and made his way into the forest that was next to the path he just walked on. The gecko looked for a clearing to set up camp.

After finding a decent spot, he sat the Riolu in front of a tree so it couldn't fall on its side.

He placed his leather backpack on the floor and searched the clearing for some firewood.

The grass-type was just done, setting up a fireplace, when he heard a groan.

He looked over to the Riolu which was trying to move, groaning even more doing so.

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**? POV**

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My body felt like it was floating. At first it felt like I didn't have a body at all. Slowy I began to feel something new. The floating turned into pain. Every muscle of my body felt sore. As I regained conciousness, my head began to hurt. It wasn't a normal headache, it felt like my brain was about to explode. I was just able to bear the pain until it was gone all of a sudden. It left as fast as it came. My muscles still felt a little stiff but as my senses slowly came back to me I started to hear wind rushing through the leaves of a tree. I was able to smell grass and wood and... Something else... I couldn't tell what it was.

'Wait, a forest? How did I get into a forest? Last thing I remember is...'

My brain wasn't able to give me an answer to the question.

'What the?! Why can't I remember anything? Who?... I can't even remember my name...'

Frustration overcame me.

'Ugh...Dammit! I have to open my eyes.'

I tried my best but doing so was impossible. My eyelids simply didn't respond.

Suddenly, I heard something. Footsteps. They were coming my way, meaning that somebody was approaching me.

'Who is this? Is he friendly? What if not? I can't move... oh no! What is he going to do with me?'

The last though made me realize something.

'I'm a girl. And if this is a...'

My thought was interrupted by a voice.

"Hello? Are you awake?" a male voice asked. My fear confirmed itself.

I tried to say something but I simply couldn't move my mouth resulting only in a groan.

"Ah, I see, still not fit are we? Well just rest a little more, I'm sure you'll be fine." the voice responded.

My uneasy feeling faded when I heard the calm tone inside the voice.

I tried to open my eyes again. This time with success. They were open but I still had no vision because of the bright daylight that entered my eyes. I tried to cover them with my hand but my muscles simply wouldn't respond.

My eyes slowly adjusted to the light. Everything was very blurry, but then I saw it. In front of me was a green gecko, looking at me with its golden eyes.

"Hi, there!" he said, giving me a smile.

Just then all of my muscles moved on their own. My whole body jumped and a yelp escaped my mouth.

The creature in front of me was startled by my sudden movement and jumped a bit too.

"Whoa, watch it! You should not surprise me like that." the gecko said.

I tried to look around, but moving my head was impossible too.

"Wh..whe..?"

I couldn't form a single word. My voice sounded strange. A little rough but still female. I calmed down and examined the strange creature. Somehow it didn't scare me. It was like I had seen it before. The gecko had a big leave on his head. On his arms were leaves too. Its whole form was somewhat familiar with me and at that moment a name shot through my head.

"Gr..grov..yle?" I managed to say.

The Grovyle gave me a strange look. "Ah, you can speak... Can you tell me how you ended up unconscious in Treeshroud Forest?" he asked.

"...Three..shroud...Forest?" I said weakly. I then coughed, trying to clear my throat. "I'm sorry, I don't remember anything..."

"What do you mean you don't remember anything?"

My answer confused him.

"...I don't even remember my name." I explained in a sad voice.

"Really? Are you sure?" he asked in a tone that told me that he didn't really believe me.

"Yes... Before waking up here, there is... Nothing." I replied.

His familiar appearance bugged me somehow.

"But... Maybe you know who I am? I think I have seen something like you before."

He hesitated a bit before he answered. "Ehm... No, sorry. I haven't seen a Riolu before."

"Riolu?" The grass-type confused me with his answer. "What are you talking about?"

The Grovyle looked like he didn't know how to respond.

"You don't remember your species anymore?" he asked in a weird tone.

That question made me look at my feet... Something was off... They were black and doglike. I raised my left arm and looked at it. It was a blue paw with a white bone sticking out on its backside. I inspected my chest. It had black fur on it. 'What the?!'

The gecko looked at me suspiciously when he noticed my strange reaction of seeing my body.

"Something is wrong." I said, making eye contact with him again.

"What do you mean wrong?" Grovyle asked.

I looked at my feet again. "My body...It shouldn't be this way."

The Grovyle looked surprised all of a sudden. "You mean not...human...like?"

'Human.'

That word made something click. I remembered something.

_Everything was very foggy, but I was able to see a city and some strange creatures walking in it. A hand with a cellphone entered my vision. After a few seconds of looking at it, I realized that it was mine. But my hand wasn't a blue paw...It was pinkish and had five fingers.  
_

"YES!" I shot out.

I was now sitting up, not leaning onto the tree behind me anymore.

Grovyle's suspicious look turned into a happy one. "Heh, I knew you would make it but well...This...is unexpected."

The grass-type let out a deep sigh.

"Now this is going to take a while." he continued, sitting down in front of me.

"First of all, your name... is Riley." he explained in a calm voice.

'Riley...'

I let that name sink in for a bit.

...

'Strange name...'

"You are a human that was sent to our world to safe it. Shortly after you entered our world you met me and we became partners." he began to explain.

He then told me about the dark future we came from.

I interrupted him when he was halfway done.

"So you are telling me that both of us are from the future?" I asked, not really able to believe his story.

He responded with a nod. "Well... You just woke up as a Pokemon... What makes you think that time travel isn't possible?"

'That makes sense... Well, at least I know who I am now.'

A grin formed on my face...

He continued with his story and told me about Dusknoir, the Sableeye, Dialga and Celebi.

When he mentioned Celebi and how she helped us travel back in time, his expression changed...almost like he was smiling.

Finally he told me about the Time Gears and our plan.

"You see, if we collect all the Time Gears and bring them to Temporal Tower we can stop the paralysis of the planet from ever happening at all. And that's what we are going to do now. As I told you before, we already found the location of every Gear... Or rather your special ability did. It's called the "Dimensional Scream". It let you see visions of places connected to the Time Gears." the grass-type carried on.

"Though I doubt that we will able to trigger it, now that you have lost you memories." he added in a somewhat sad tone which I didn't really understand.

...

"Now that you know everything... Ehm... Do you want to finish the job or...? the grass-type asked hesitantly.

"Sure thing!" I replied immediately.

Grovyle had just given me the most precious things the amnesia had taken from me. The most important things where there again. A name and a purpose.

"Well, it's nice to have you back again!" Grovyle said with a smile.

"... So, any questions?" he finished.

"Well, can you tell me a little more about me? How I looked and how I was like?" I asked.

"You were an average girl... At least you said so... You had long, blonde hair and well... You always wore those strange colored cloth things. You had a strange desire to cover up your body all the time..." he answered.

"Wait a second!" I interrupted him. "Do you mean clothes?"

I looked down at my body again. "I'm... naked!"

I could feel my face turn red as I turned away from Grovyle, trying to cover myself with my paws.

He responded with a sigh. "Now you have fur covering everything, dont you?" he said, being a little annoyed by my reaction. "Also, you are a human and I'm a Pokemon... So what about it?"

"Well, I'm a Pokemon now too and... And... I don't even remember how all of this... Ugh... Please act like this never happened, okay?" I said nervously, getting back to my sitting position.

Grovyle let out another sigh. Though something about it sounded different...

"Okay, now to the question about how you were like...Well, if you started something you finished it. You always did everything to reach your goals. Even if you didn't like what you had to do. Oh, and you told me that the thing you hate the most are friends that aren't honest with you. Hmm... It's pretty hard to describe the rest of your personality though." Grovyle explained.

'Well, I guess I would finish something if I started it... And who does like when your friends lie to you?'

"Uhm... Thank you!" I said, smiling at him.

"No, problem... Let's hope that your memories come back someday." he answered, returning it.

Suddenly he jumped up and looked around the clearing.

"What...?" I tried to ask but he hushed me down.

Then I heard it too, several bushes around the clearing were shaking.

Suddenly several Electrike jumped out of them. They were green doglike creatures with several yellow stripes on their bodies.

They were growling at us. "You are trespassing out territory!" a slightly bigger one said as it took a step closer.

"Stay behind me." Grovyle ordered to me.

I didn't know why but suddenly I jumped up and took one step forward, getting into a strangely familiar battle pose. I put my left paw in front of me while baling my right one into a fist and brought it near my right hip.

"Riley what are you..?" the grass-type next me couldn't finish his sentence. All of the canines were dashing at us at the same time.

Out of pure instinct, I dashed forward too.

"Wait!" I heard Grovyle call out from behind me.

One of the wild Pokemon was trying to jump onto me. I simply sidestepped and threw a punch into its side, sending it flying.

'Did I really just...?'

Another Electrike interrupted my thought as it tried the same thing as the last one. I simply sidestepped again, this time sending the electric-type flying with a mighty kick.

I looked to my right to find Grovyle doing pretty much the same thing, only that he slashed them with his leaves, leaving deep cuts on their bodies. Several more Electrike were heading his way surrounding him.

I couldn't worry for him for long because the same happened to me. The two Pokemon I knocked out didn't get up again but five of their comrades and their slightly bigger leader were all around me now.

Suddenly something unexpected happened. All of them were surrounded by an electrical aura.

"Let's see how you deal with Spark." the leader smirked.

One of the smaller Pokemon jumped forward. This time I couldn't counter, the sparks coming from its body would fry me. I could only dodge as all five of the minions lunged towards me at the same time. Their leader only laughed as I struggled to evade the electrical hounds.

"Grovyle!" I shouted, dodging another attack."Help!"

I could look over to him for just a split second, only to see that he had the same problem, just that he had about twelve of those beast attacking him.

"Riley! You're a Pokemon now! Try using a move, or something!" he shouted back, slashing another Elektrike with his blades.

"A move?! Which one?! I don't even know what moves Riolu have!" I responded, nearly getting hit. The dog missed me but one of its sparks stroke my shoulder leaving a little burn on it.

"Agh! Dammit, how am I supposed to do it?!" I yelled at him.

"Just..." he started, slashing down another electric-type. "Try it!"

'Try it.'

I remembered something.

_I was somewhere in the mountains. A voice was coming from behind me. "Try it again!" it said. Then I could see my arms, forming something between them. The last thing I saw was a bone in my...paw?_

I was back in reality, another attack coming my direction. I put my paws together concentrating some somehow familiar energy into them. When I focused enough of it, I pulled both paws out, creating a silver shining bone between them. When it was long enough, I broke it in half and created one bone baton in each of my hands.

I didn't even bother evading the next attack, I simply hit the Electrike square in the face with my baton. It let out a scream of pain as it hit the ground.

Defeating the rest of the grunts was just as easy as knocking out the first one. All of them tried the same thing. Tackle me and fry me with their sparks. Thanks to my new weapons, the electricity didn't even touch me.

I let my guard down as I tried to catch a glimpse of how Grovyle was doing. Bad choice. The leader caught me off guard as he lunged at me. I could see his teeth ready to drill into my flesh. At the last moment I managed to put one of my batons up. Only in a matter of seconds I found myself of the ground with a raging beast on top of me.

His teeth were covered with electricity and the only thing between them and my face was my slowly dimming bone. I knew that it would disappear soon. The teeth from the beast were throwing off sparks which hit me in the face. Just when I tought that it was over with me, the weight on top of me disappeared.

The next thing I saw was Grovyle, looking at me with a serious face. He reached his claw out to me with another sigh.

As I tried to lift myself up to grab it, I felt light headed all of a sudden.

The exhaustion from the fight and the shock from the near death experience were taking their toll on me as I slowly lost conciousness.

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**End of Chapter 1**


	2. A lot to learn

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

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**Chapter 2 - A lot to learn  
**

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The first thing I felt when I regained my conciousness was a pleasant warmth. When I opened my eyes I could see that I wasn't at the clearing anymore. I was sitting on the ground leaning onto another tree. Inspecting my surroundings revealed that I was somewhere near a river. In front of me was a fireplace. There was no trace of Grovyle, which made worry a bit.

Struggling at first, I stood up. Feeling thirsty, I made my way to the nearby river and took a drink from it. After I was finished I could see my reflection in the water. I took this opportunity to inspect my new body a little further. My face was now doglike. The fur on it was mainly blue. The fur on my new ears was also blue. There was something like a black mask around my eyes. My eyes were now a deep red and had a mysterious look to them. I looked at the side of my head, there were two new tear shaped appendages sticking out of it. They looked like ears but upon inspecting them, I couldn't find any function from them. I looked just like any ordinary Riolu. Only difference I could make out was that the fur between my ears was slightly longer and fell down onto my forehead.

I got back up and looked at the rest of my new body. Just like the first time I saw it, when I woke up. Though this time I noticed something else. My tail... I had a new limb sticking out of my rear.

'Strange, how comes I didn't notice it until now?'

It didn't really bother me.

After I finished inspecting my new body, my thoughts went back to Grovyle.

"Grovyle?!" I shouted into the clearing.

"I'm over here!" he called back coming out of the near forest.

"I brought us something to eat." he continued, showing me several berries in his backpack.

"You had me worried there Riley. You weren't out very long though." Grovyle explained, picking up a stick from the ground.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened there, I just acted on instinct." I said with a sad look.

Grovyle was picking out some berries from his bag and pushed his skewer through them.

"You surprised me a bit. I didn't know you were able to fight. Back in the future it was always me who fought our battles." he explained, handing the stick over to me.

"But what even more surprised me, was that you used Bone Rush." Grovyle added, picking up another stick from the ground.

"Bone Rush?... So that's what it's called. When you told me to try a move I suddenly knew how to use it." I replied.

"No, I mean that Bone Rush is a move that Riolu shouldn't normally learn. I have read many books about every species and none of them ever mentioned a Riolu being able to use it. Only their evolved form should know." the grass-type explained.

"That's odd... so what happened while I was out? Where are we?" I asked.

"We are not very far from our last camp. I guess I was just unlucky stumbling into that Electrike territory. I carried you all the way to this river, built a decent fireplace and collected some berries. When I came back, you were already awake again." Grovyle answered.

Although he let out a sigh when he mentioned him carrying me.

Just then he was finished with his skewer. He went over to the fireplace and sat down next to it. I did the same.

When he held his stick above the fire he continued."We really should get back to our mission Riley. We already had enough distractions."

"Oh, okay... So which Time Gear are we going to get? The one from the Northern Desert? Fogbound Lake? Or... Wait a second... Didn't you mention that one of them was at Threeshroud Forest? Do we already have one?" I asked, putting my berries above the fire too.

Grovyle gave me a worried look. "About that...Well, no. When I arrived there, time had already stopped."

"What do you mean time had stopped? Didn't you say you also found me there?" I was really confused now.

"Yes... you were laying unconscious near the place where the Time Gear should have been. But you must have gotten there after the gear was taken. If you had been inside the shockwave you would be stuck there now. So I assume that somebody else than us must have taken that Time Gear. And that you turned into a Riolu is also very mysterious. Maybe it happened when we got attacked while we traveled back in time. Or maybe... Hmm... Another option would be that you confronted said other person when he tried to take the gear and that somehow led to your transformation. We can just speculate on that topic." Grovyle explained.

"Either way we should really get started soon. Not only do we have to collect all the Time Gears, we also need to worry about a thief that tries the same. I have a theory who it might be but it's just a theory." he continued.

"Okay... so where should we go now?" I asked.

"I think the best place to go from here would be Limestone Cavern. After that we should go to Fogbound Lake. Then the Northern Desert and finally Crystal Cave. If the thief has the goal to collect more than one Time Gear, he will eventually try to find us. So if we get at least one gear before him, we have a plan to capture him." Grovyle answered.

After finishing our meals he picked up his backpack and took something out of it.

"Here, it already has some berries and a Luminous Orb in it." he said, handing a small pouch over to me.

I opened it and pulled out a blue orb with a thin leather band attached to it.

"It charges when it's exposed to sunlight. Pretty nifty when we come across caves." Grovyle explained.

He then pointed at the berries inside my pouch.

"The blue ones are Oran berries. They have amazing healing effects. The only problem is that they only work if you have digested the nutrients from the last one you consumed. So simply munching on Oran berries in a fight won't help you. The pink ones are Pecha berries... Great against any poison. Oh, and the green one is a Rawst berry. Not only are they great for healing burns, they also make your body more resistant to fire! If you eat one, it makes it harder to burn you in the first place." Grovyle lectured.

I thanked him and closed it again... "Am I supposed to carry it in my hand all the time or..."

The grass-type sighed. "Turn it around. The are two leather bands on the back. Just wrap it around your leg or where ever you like it."

I did as told and attached the pouch on my right upper leg.

"That's my old bag... I used to wear it when I was still a Treeko. I have this new backpack you made specially for me, so I don't need it any more." he told me with a happy expression on his face.

We put sand onto the fire and made our way to a dirt road.

"Okay, it should take us about a week to get to Limestone Cavern." Grovyle said.

* * *

It was late afternoon now and we had walked for some time when Grovyle suddenly grabbed my arm and rushed with me into a near bush.

"What are...?" Grovyle put his claw over my mouth silencing me.

From the bush I could see some other creatures walking on the dirt road. They were wearing bags similar to mine and had scarves around their necks.

When they were gone Grovyle finally loosened his grip on me.

"What did you do that for?!" I asked angrily.

"Sorry Riley, but I think it's better if we don't let ourselves be seen." he answered, walking out of the bushes.

"Why? Maybe we could have asked them for help." I replied, following him.

"I don't think they would appreciate two Pokemon who claimed to be from the future, trying to save the world. Also, you already know that removing a Time Gear leads to the paralysis of time in that area. I don't think many Pokemon would like something like that." he explained.

"Lets just explain our situation to them. I believed you so what makes you think that nobody else would?" I said.

"That's not the main problem. I want to stay incognito for as long as possible. There is a chance that Dusknoir might have come back in time too trying to stop us. And if there are rumors about two Pokemon talking about the future, it would be easier for him to find us." he responded with a serious face.

Just then his expression changed. It was almost like a smirk.

"Heh, I just came up with another backup plan... You see, Dusknoir still thinks that you are Human right? So if everything goes wrong and I get captured, we still got you to finish the job. You would just have to flee without being noticed by him though. After that there would be nobody trying to stop you anymore. Well, at least nobody from our time." he continued, playing the whole scenario in his head.

"And with that we have another reason why we shouldn't make any contact with people from this time. I bet that Dusknoir will inspect every Grovyle he comes across. That's why I have to stay hidden for as long as possible. Also, the name Riley could catch his attention... If we really have to make contact with somebody from this time just use a fake one or your species name." he finished.

"If you say so." I replied. But somehow tricking people like that didn't feel right to me.

* * *

We continued our journey and luckily didn't meet any other Pokemon When it got nighttime, we made our way into another forest looking for a good place to set up camp. Although we made sure not to trespass any wild Pokemon territory.

After finding a decent spot, Grovyle put his backpack on the ground and made another fireplace to cook some more berries.

I sat down next to it warming my paws.

"So how do these moves work? Can I use something else than Bone Rush?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

He sat down next to me. "Hmmm... how should I explain all of this. All of this Pokemon stuff must be new to you... Lets start with the different types."

He then explained me everything about the different Pokemon-types and how they affected each other.

"That's a lot of information..." I said nervously. 'Am I really supposed to remember all of that.'

"You'll get the hang of it... Okay now let's get to the topic moves itself. As you might have guessed, most Pokemon use moves that have the same as their own type. But they can also learn moves from other elements. Lets take your Bone Rush for example. I don't know exactly how it works but the main idea is that you focus energy into the shape of a bone by using your aura, changing it to ground-type in the process." he continued.

"Aha...Can you teach me something else?" I asked.

"Hmm...Riolu should be able to use Quickattack on instinct. You can try that one." Grovyle offered.

We got up and created some distance between us and the fire.

"Okay, I'm able to use Quickattack too, so im going to show you first." Grovyle said.

He then started to give off some white aura. Suddenly he was gone, only stirred up dust at the place he just stood. I looked around but, there was not a trace of him.

'Damn is he fast.'

Strangely, admiring someones fighting capabilities felt oddly familiar. I didn't know why but I somehow wanted to be as fast as him. Heck, I wanted to be even faster.

"Behind you." he said touching my shoulder. I jumped as he pulled me out of my thoughts, letting out a scream.

"Oh my god, don't scare me like that!" I said with anger in my voice.

"Hehe, sorry for that", he said giving me a warm smile. "Okay I want you to run past that tree over there. Try building up the energy you used when creating a bone..only this time all over your body...and then... Hmmm... How am I supposed to explain the last part? Ach, just think "Fast"... Yea I'm sorry, that's the best way I can explain it." he ordered.

"Okay!" I replied. Now I could show him.

I got into my battle pose. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the familiar energy inside of me. When I thought that I could feel it around my body, I opened my eyes. There were in fact white streams of energy around me.

'Great, I'm doing this!'

I had somewhat of an idea what he meant with the thinking "Fast". A familiar feeling was building up inside of me.

Just as I wanted to concentrate on said feeling, I had another memory.

_Everything was blurry. In front of me was some round shape. Then I heard a muffled voice to my right. Turning my head towards its direction revealed...Nothing... Everything to my right was black and grey. Like watching TV without a signal. The blackness spreaded, now occupying my whole vision. As I tried to say something, the vision ended._

When the memory was over, I lost my focus, and with that the energy around me. I felt light headed, struggling to keep on standing.

Grovyle noticed and came over to me holding me up by my shoulders. "Whoa, Riley, are you okay?" he asked with a worried face.

The light headed feeling ended just as fast as it came. "Yes, Im ok... I just didn't feel good all of a sudden." I answered. I got a little angry.

"Okay, if you say so... Do you want to try it again?" he replied. His worry had not faded.

I nodded.

Grovyle took a few steps back and I tried again. I managed to bring forth the white aura streams once more, but as soon as I tried to go to the next step I remembered the blackness again and felt dizzy. I tried several more times, but I just couldn't get over the last step. Everytime the blackness made me lose my focus.

"I just can't do it!" I yelled angrily.

"Whats wrong?" Grovyle asked.

"Everytime I try to concentrate on the "Fast" part, I just lose focus" I explained.

"Hmmm... Well if that doesn't work, we can try to improve on you Bone Rush." he offered.

"Okay." I said creating a bone between my paws. When it was long enough, I broke it into two batons again.

"I have already seen that you know how to use them, but maybe I can show you a new fighting style." Grovyle said expanding the leaves on both of his arms.

"Try holding your batons at the other end. Just try to mimic my stance." he ordered.

I did as told and held my hands up letting my bones slide down. I was now holding them like a thief would hold his daggers.

Grovyle got into a battle stance. He held his left hand in front of him slightly lower than his face. His right hand was also in front of him only that it was a little lower at chest height. He then kneeled down a bit down bringing his right leg behind him.

I did try to mimic him and found it surprisingly easy doing so.

"Nice job, Riley. Your stance is almost perfect. I didn't expect you to learn that fast. Okay, tomorrow I'll show you some basic attacks." he said proudly.

"Promise?" I asked with a grin.

"Promise." Grovyle answered, returning a smile.

"Its getting late, and we should really get some rest. We've got a long trip ahead of us." he said pulling his leaves in again.

"Okay..." I replied as the batons in my hands disappeared. Somehow I was getting sad that I had to wait till tomorrow to learn more.

We then went back to the fire sitting down next to it. Grovyle grabbed his backpack and looked around inside of it. He then pulled out a blanket and handed it over to me.

"Here, this should keep you warm." he said with a smile.

'Wow, that's so nice of him.'

"Thanks a lot!" I said happily. I reached out to grab it, touching his claw in the process. I didn't know why but somehow it gave me a strange feeling in my cheeks.

'Wait a second! Am I blushing?! Why would I...?'

I didn't know how it could even happen.

'I am human... right?... Maybe turning into a Pokemon changed the way I see things... Ugh...'

I quickly held it up trying to cover my face, but at the same time I tried to make it look like if I was just examining the cloth. Luckily it worked.

"Well, we should get some sleep. Good night, Riley." Grovyle said, resting himself onto the ground.

"Good night" I replied, also laying down.

I tried to forget about what just happened. The hotness from my cheeks had already faded again. I let out a mental sigh.

Maybe it was the exhaustion from all the walking, or maybe the training, but as soon as I closed my eyes I fell asleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. Journey to another Complication

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Journey to another Complication**

* * *

It was early in the morning when I woke up. Grovyle was already awake and stirred around in his backpack.

He noticed me when I sat up.

"Good morning, Riley. Did you sleep well?" he greeted with a smile.

"Yes, thank you for asking." I answered, returning his smile.

I got up and handed him the blanket he gave me the last day. He grabbed it and put it into his backpack. Then he faced me again.

He let out a sigh.

"I think we might have little problem... I know the general direction to Limestone Cavern, but without a proper map it's probably going to take us a little longer to get there. I thought that we put it into my backpack, but that turned out to be wrong. We must have put it into yours. And now that you have lost it...Well, I think we might have to contact somebody from this time after all. There has to be some travelling merchants in this time. If we were able to find one, we could buy a map from him.", Grovyle explained in a disappointed voice..

"And let me guess, you want me to talk to them." I concluded.

'Shouldn't be that hard.' I thought, playing the scenario of talking with somebody else than Grovyle in my head.

"Exactly... Well, we are going the head there like we are right now. If we come across some other Pokemon we just ask them if they know any merchants. Or if we stumble across some explorers... I'm sure that they will have a map...we could..." Grovyle couldn't speak any further as I interrupted him.

"No way! We are not going to steal from them!" I said with a little anger in my voice. Grovyle responded with a surprised look.

I didn't like the idea of knocking out some random explorers, just to take their map. I guess I want to save the world, but I don't want to harm anyone innocent in the process.

"Riley?... Stealing has never been a problem for you. In the future we often stole from the Sableeye and other Pokemon. You can't afford moral, when it's about survival." He said. His surprised look turned into a confused one.

"Ugh, yea it just feels wrong to me. I don't want to harm anybody from this time just to make it easier for us. I think its bad enough that we have to lie to them but I am not going to hurt innocent people." I explained looking him directly in the eyes.

Grovyle didn't respond.

"Lets just get to the Cavern... If we meet somebody I will ask them about the merchants, but if you want to steal something... Well, you are on your own with that." I said, heading out of our camp.

I turned around and caught a glimpse of Grovyle as he picked up his backpack with a worried look.

* * *

We continued our journey to Limestone Cavern. Two days went by without meeting any other Pokemon. I hoped that it would go on like that... Coming across explorers would put Grovyle and me into an uncomfortable situation.

When we were walking on the dirt road, we mostly kept to ourselves. But when me made a break to eat or take a little rest, he would sometimes tell me stories about the future.

At night, before we went to sleep, we always trained for about an hour. I got the hang of the basic movements pretty fast. After just two hours of training I was able to deliver some considerable force onto a tree trunk Grovyle told me to train on.

On the morning of the third day, I managed to convince him for some extra training.

* * *

"Okay, now that you can actually deal some damage holding your bones like this, let's get to the real thing." Grovyle said expanding his leaves and getting into the basic stance.

"This fighting-style is a combination of the basic style Gallades use and the swift speed enhancing moves my species uses. Well, it somewhat requires the knowledge of Quickattack to be used effectively. I know Agility and Quickattack and combining them gives me even more speed, so I specialized on the speed part. The main idea is using your speed to get into reach of your enemy's weak points and hit them with the force from the Gallade-style. And with you still not being able to use Quickattack, we should focus on the force part for now.", He lectured.

I put my paws in front of me creating two glowing bones again. I spun them in my hands while getting into the stance.

"Show off." I heard Grovyle say under his breath. I coughed to inform him about me noticing. He got the message and turned red a bit.

Grovyle cleared his throat and continued. "Okay, try to hit me."

I did as told and dashed forward holding my arms behind me. I tried to use the basic attacks he tought me, but he simply dodged every single one. Instinct told me to change my strategy. I got in close sending my right bone forward. Just as he dodged to my left, I changed my tactic and swept my left leg forward aiming for his feet. He was caught of guard and I managed to throw him off-balance. I spun around and tried to hit him with my left baton. Just when he was about to fall and get hit, he used the momentum to put his hand onto the ground. He then pushed him of the ground and flew about two meters into the air. My attack missed him only slightly as he traveled upwards. I could see him smirk down at me from the air. I responded by gritting my teeth.

Though I had to admire that he was stong enough to lift himself that high with only one arm.

Just then an idea popped into my head. I let my right hand slide to the other side of my baton. Then I threw it at him like a boomerang.

'Gotcha!'

My sudden change in strategy surprised him as he struggled to change his position in the air. Somehow he manage to spin around, bringing his feet direction towards the ground again. But it simply wasn't enough. My spinning bone managed to hit his right shoulder.

I was shocked of what happened next. The bone released all of its stored energy upon touching him, resulting in a small explosion. I could see Grovyle groan as pain entered his body. He landed on his feet, grabbing his shoulder. A stream of smoke was still coming from it.

"Oh my god, Grovyle, I'm so sorry!" I shouted, running towards him, my other bone disappearing.

"Ugh, its nothing... An Oran berry and I'll be okay in no time", He said trying to calm me down. He put his claw away from his shoulder revealing a little burn on it. I gasped.

I quickly opened my pouch, grabbing a blue berry out of it. "I'm really sorry, here take it." I said handing it over to him. I felt horrible. I just hurt my only friend.

A tear started to form in the corner of my eye.

As I noticed I got angry. Somehow I hated the thought of me crying. I rubbed my paw across my face, trying to dry of any tears on it.

Grovyle noticed as he consumed the berry. "Come on Riley. Its okay. Please don't cry." He couldn't say anything else as I interrupted him.

"I'M NOT!" I shouted, putting my paw back down.

When I looked at him again, I could see a worried look on his face. Upon inspecting his shoulder, I saw that the wound on it had already disappeared again. The anger on my face turned into a smile. I was relieved that I didn't cause any serious damage. Though the bad feeling from hurting a friend stayed.

"See, half as bad." Grovyle said when he saw me smiling.

I didn't know that Bone Rush could have such an effect. I thought that it only created a weapon that helped me in close up combat. The idea of throwing them never came on my mind before.

"I think that's enough for now." he continued, walking over to his backpack.

"Grovyle... I'm sorry..." I followed him.

"Its okay, really... Well, you managed to hit me right? Anyway we now have something new to worry about. I met a Lucario once, who was able to use Bone Rush too. They normally shouldn't explode like this. He mentioned that it only happens if he overcharged them with his aura... Just try not to overdo it next time." he replied, putting his bag onto his back.

"Overcharged? I didn't even break a sweat creating them..." I mentioned, getting confused again. If I really put that much aura into them then I should have felt at least a little exhaustion. But I was feeling just fine.

"Really?" he said raising a non existant eyebrow. "Hmmm... Only creating them must take up a lot of energy, maintaining them while fighting even more... The only reason that you overcharged them without even noticing would be that you have so much aura at your disposal that it simply keeps overflowing when you create a baton." Grovyle theorized.

"That would make sense... But how could I have so much aura at my disposal? I'm just a normal...err...human-turned Riolu, right?" I replied. All of that speculating gave me a little headache.

* * *

"Well, that's another unsolved mystery to worry about. But our priority right now is saving the world, remember? After that we...", Grovyle ended his sentence there, his expression changing to a sad one. It looked like he was in deep thought all of a sudden.

"Whats wrong?" I asked noticing his change of mood.

His golden eyes gave me a look I couldn't quite understand. Grovyle just looked at me for a couple of seconds until he finally opened his mouth again.

"Its... nothing..." he said, breaking eye contact.

* * *

"We should really just focus on collecting the Time Gears. We can worry about your "condition" later... Anyway, we haven't really talked about all of that transformation thing, have we? Ehm... Would you even like to change back to a Human?" the grass-type asked. Somehow that question felt like he wanted to change the subject.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it either... I don't remember anything from before... The only thing I know about my human self is what you told me. I don't know how, but somehow this new body doesn't really bother me." I explained.

My new body really didn't bother me. Looking at it with the knowledge that I was human before still felt a little strange though. But I got used to it pretty fast. I assumed if someone woke up in a new body, he would have trouble to even walk properly. When I used my legs for the first time, I dashed into a fight. I had no problems whatsoever.

"Hmm, if it doesn't bother you then you can better concentrate on our mission, right? Talking about the mission again, we really should get started. Come on, let's get going" Grovyle ordered.

We went back on our journey and continued our way towards Limestone Cavern. As usual, we wouldn't talk much when we walked, but something about Grovyle had changed. It was like something was bothering him on the back of his head. He always seemed to debate about something.

Three more days went by without meeting any other Pokemon. At night, we kept on training as usual, this time focusing on my control over Bone Rush though. After three sessions, I was able to somewhat control how much energy I poured into my batons.

* * *

On the fourth day we finally reached the Southern Jungle. Just before we were about to enter it, Grovyle stopped me.

"Wait a second, Riley. Does the word "Mystery Dungeon" sound familiar to you? he asked.

I shook my head. The word itself did, but I had no idea what was behind it.

Grovyle sighed. "Well, they are distortions in space. Everytime you enter one its layout is completely different from the last time you entered. Meaning that they are extremely hard to explore. To go through a dungeon you have to clear all of its floor by walking up or down stairs, changing its whole layout again. In them, you will find many wild Pokemon, that will attack you on sight. They are creations from the dungeon itself, trying to stop you. So if you defeat them, they simply vanish. Inside them you may find items other people lost when they got knocked out, even money! Speaking of getting knocked out... If you lose conciousness inside of a dungeon, it throws you back to its entrance. But you will see all of this when we get into one." Grovyle explained.

"Okay... but do you really think that we will find a dungeon inside of this jungle? And if we do, can't we just walk around it?" I asked.

"No, what Im trying to tell you is that the jungle itself is a mystery dungeon." Grovyle answered. "When we get through it, we will have to walk for about another hour till we reach Boulder Quarry. But I think its best if we set up a camp before entering it. You should know that Boulder Quarry is also a dungeon."

"The sun rose two hours ago... Is the jungle really that big?" I asked again.

"You never know how much time passes in the real world when you are inside of a dungeon. A dungeon can have twenty floors and walking through it will feel like an eternity but when you come out only a few minutes could have passed. You really never know." my partner replied. " Though your body will still feel like it walked for hours. Anyway, after passing through a mystery dungeon you should always take a rest."

"Okay, lead the way then." I said, letting him lead our exploration.

* * *

Upon entering the dungeon a strange feeling came over me. It wasn't good or bad... Simply strange.

Grovyle did a pretty good job leading us through the jungle. When we came across any wild Pokemon, Grovyle usually just dashed at them and slashed the with his leaves, making them dissolve into black smoke.

We made progress pretty fast. We had already cleared three floors. But I couldn't quite understand how stairs could just pop out of the ground... Upon touching them everything went black for a second before revealing the scenery of the next floor.

We cleared four more floors without any trouble. Though on one of them, I stepped onto a trap that made the ground under me spin around, making me feel dizzy. Grovyle told me keep calm as I stumbled through the room, making sure I didn't step onto the trap again.

Grovyle told me that we were almost out of the dungeon when we came across a Monsterhouse...

Black smoke filled the room. It then slowly took the shape of several Pokemon. I got into my battle stance, but Grovyle pushed me back into the hallway we just came from.

"I'll handle it" he said, extending his leaves and dashing into the monster-filled room.

I let out a little growl. 'Didn't he say I was able to fight?...Why won't he let me help?'

Just then I heard a hissing coming deeper from the hallway. A Scyther gave me a menacing look as it slowly came closer to me. It then revealed its two blade-like arms. It looked really strong. Any normal person would have at least felt a little uneasy about fighting a creature with blades as arms. Not me though... I was happy. Finally I could have a real battle.

I created my bones and got into the battle stance Grovyle taught me.

"Come and get it!" I yelled at my enemy, dashing forward.

The Scyther did the same. I threw my left bone forward, aiming for its face. The bug-type simply put his blade up, blocking my attack. A could see a few sparks when they collided. My enemy didn't hesitate and slashed at me with its other blade. I backstepped, dodging it. The Scyther let out a roar as a familiar white aura started coming from it.

'Dammit, Quickattack.'

Suddenly it dashed forward slashing its arms at me with immense speed. I was only able to dodge by consequent backsteps.

'Dammit, he's too fast!' I cursed, dodging another deadly blow. 'Come on, there's gotta be something I can do!'

I then felt something hit my back. Behind me was a wall... The Scyther then aimed a Quickattack enhanced X-Scissor-attack at me, deleting the option of dodging to the side. I was trapped. 'Think of something come on! Maybe...Ugh I have to try!'; I screamed in my head. I wanted to use Quickattack... Somehow I knew it wouldn't be enough to dodge the inevitable but I had to try something.

Another memory shot through my head.

_Something like a training ground entered my vision. I was in a flat area with a lot of open space around me. A blurry figure came into my view and dashed at me with immense speed. My body moved on its own when the figure began to attack me with lighting fast attacks. While I dodged, a strange feeling entered my body... Similar to when I tried to use Quickattack. Time around me seemed to slow down all of a sudden and moving out of my unknown opponents way became a lot easier as it almost looked like as if it was frozen in time. A black paw shot forward, aiming for the figure's face. The vision abruptly ended when the fist made contact._

Back in reality, I could hear Grovyle scream something at me from the monster infested room. Dust stirred up around me, as the incoming attack was about to connect.

Something was different. I looked at the Scyther. It seemed as if it was moving in slow-motion all of a sudden. I simply moved around it, evading its blades. I then jumped up and hit the back of its head with my bone. It went right through, revealing black smoke.

Upon landing on the floor I could hear Grovyle finish screaming my name. I felt a little drained all of a sudden. Letting my bones disappear I faced Grovyle who was looking at me with a shocked face.

'Have I done something unexpected again? My last attack didn't feel like Quickattack at all.'

"Riley! Are you okay?!" he asked, now standing right next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, lust a little drained." I answered.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, I should have been more cautious." Grovyle said.

"No problem, on, lets keep going" I replied, walking past him towards the now cleared Monsterhouse.

"Riley, wait..." the grass-type tried to stop me, but I simply kept walking.

* * *

We cleared the rest of the dungeon pretty easily.

When we touched the last pair of stairs, we found ourselves at the edge of a jungle. I guessed that we made it to the other side. It was now late afternoon, almost evening.

Grovyle led the way to our next stop. I was looking at the sky, observing a few bird Pokemon flying above us, when he suddenly grabbed me again and pulled me into some nearby bushes.

"Whats wrong? Did you see some other Pokemon?" I asked. I really hoped that it weren't any explorers. I didn't like to argue with my friend.

"Yes... its alone. It didn't seem to be an explorer. Though its carrying a huge backpack on its back." Grovyle reported. A smirk appeared on his face. "I think it might be a travelling merchant coming back from collection some goods."

He put his backpack on the ground and pulled a little leather sack out of it. He then opened it revealing its content. It was full of golden coins with a "P" on them.

"Here, take this money." he said, handing it over to me. "I want you to ask him if he has a map he could sell you. Just say you were trying to explore the Southern Jungle and got lost."

I nodded and went out of the bush. The creature jumped when it noticed me. It was a green, bipedal chameleon. Around its belly was a red, zigzag-shaped line. On the side of its head were yellow zigzag extensions. A Kecleon.

"Oi, who are you? Don't scare me like that!" it yelled, raising its guard. It sounded male.

At first I hesitated for a moment, but then I finally opened my mouth.

"Uhm...Hello, I'm kind of lost. You look like a merchant... do you have a map for sale?" I asked, putting my arms behind my back, also playing with the sand on the ground with my left foot.

He put his guard down, blinking a bit. In a matter of seconds he had put his backpack on the ground, unrolled a carpet in front of him and placed a few goods on it.

"Well, of course my dear! I've got a lot of other goods too! Mind to take a look?" he said.

"I would just like to buy a map." I answered shyly. I thought that if I acted like a little lost girl, he would make me a better price.

He sighed. "Okay, one Wondermap... Thar will be one thousand Poke please." he replied, pulling an enrolled map out of his backpack.

"Uhm... Is this enough?" I handed my coin filled bag to him.

He opened it and started counting. When he was finished he put the coins back into the small bag.

"That's only seven hundred. I'm sorry, but I'm not making discounts." he explained, throwing the bag back to me.

I caught it, giving him a sad look. "Please? I'm lost and I don't know how to get home." I said, trying to sound like a little girl. He just shook his head.

'Dammit!' I cursed in my head. 'If I can't buy it from him, Grovyle will probably just knock him out and take it. Okay, I'll try something else.' I hated myself for the idea, but I had to try it.

"Hey, what if I paid you in another way to come up for the other three hundred Poke? Maybe with... a kiss?" I said, winking at him.

Something strange happened doing so... A pink heart formed in front of me and flew into his face. Upon contact, it shattered into several smaller hearts.

He turned red all of a sudden, mumbling something to himself as he fixed his look onto me. It kind of creeped me out.

"Uhm, hello?", I asked. This only resulted in more mumbling. I could hear "Beautiful" out of it.

'What did I just do to that guy?... Well, I got to take advantage of it as long as he is out of his mind.'

"Would you be so kind and give me the map you are holding?" I asked, winking at him again. He just stretched the arm with the map in it out and continued his mumbling. I took it and replaced it with the bag of money in my other hand.

I then dashed back into the bushes Grovyle was in.

"Come on, let's make a run for it!" I ran past him, deeper into the nearby forest in order to avoid the infatuated Kecleon. Grovyle simply followed.

I quickly turned around to see an angry chameleon pack its backpack again. I felt a bit sorry, but if he didn't make a better price for a lost girl then he didn't deserve it better.

When the distance between us and the tricked Pokemon was big enough, we turned towards Boulder Quarry again.

* * *

**BGM: "Shh... Easy now, girl. I won't hurt you." - Fire Emblem Awakening (Extended Version)  
**

The sun had already set when we arrived in front of the Quarry. Grovyle put his backpack on the ground and started looking for firewood. Just like he always did.

I helped him by looking for something to eat in the meantime. I looked for a bush with the berries we usually ate, but I didn't have any success. Luckily I did find an apple tree instead. I grabbed a few apples from it and headed back to our camp.

Grovyle lit a fire and sat down next to it. I went over to him and gave him an apple. He thankfully grabbed it and took a bite out of it.

I sat down next to him and did the same. In matter of seconds my apple was gone. I looked over to Grovyle who had only taken several bites out of his. He gave me a surprised look. I took another apple and consumed it just as fast as the first one.

After finishing his apple, Grovyle started to speak again.

"Riley, we kind of need to talk about all of your strange abilities." he said. "Back in the dungeon... you used Extremespeed."

"Extremespeed? Whats wrong with it? Is it another move Riolu shouldn't be able to know?" I asked, replaying the scene in my head again.

"Yes... It's a move that drastically improves your speed. The user moves so fast that everything around him seems to slow down. I can only match speed like this if I combine Quickattack and Agility." Grovyle explained. "You remember the Lucario from the future I told you about? Well, he kind of was able to use it as well. The only downside was that it consumed a huge amount of aura, leaving him nearly unconscious after doing so. You should be careful with it."

"Yea, I noticed. I felt drained after using it." I replied.

"And when you bought that map from that merchant... You...ehm... used Attract." Grovyle continued. It seemed like he felt uneasy telling me about it.

"I just tried to charm him a bit... I didn't know it would make something like this happen." I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Is it another move unusual for me or what makes you feel so uneasy about it?" I asked, laughing at him.

"Well, it's just..." Grovyle started, giving me a stressed look. He looked like he was looking for the right words to say. "Nevermind, just inform me before you want to use it again." I wondered what made him feel like this... An evil thought entered my mind. I wanted to play with him a bit.

"Whats wrong? Are you scared of it?" I asked with a mischievous grin. Grovyle jumped to my question, his expression turning even more stressful.

"Uuh, n...no. Its nothing really... Just that you are able to use it gives me a bad feeling somehow." he stuttered. Though he emphasized on the "you".

'Is he scared that I would hit him? Why did he point out "you"? Hmm... He doesn't like the feeling of him being infatuated by me... Does he think im ugly?!... Ugh, I don't even know what makes this Pokemon body "attractive"... That... Makes me curious.' I thought, planning an even more evil scheme.

I looked him directly in the eyes keeping up my grin. He started to sweat when he realized what I was planning.

"Riley, NO!" he yelled waving his arms in front of him.

"Then tell me why you don't like the idea of being infatuated by me." I demanded. He turned red. I had never seen him like that before. He looked at the ground, breaking eye contact and started to play around with his claws.

After a few seconds, he gave out a sigh. It sounded different than usual.

"Well, I was kind of happy about you losing your memories. Back in the future when we first met, well... I was still a Trecko back then... I kind of made an idiot out of myself..." he explained. He had to swallow before he could continue. "I...kind of... had a crush on you back then."

As soon as he had said it, I instantly turned red too.

"You... had what?!" I almost yelled.

He just kept looking at the ground turning even redder.

"Yes, but you were a human back then... and you just laughed at me when I told you about it." he replied. I could clearly hear the embarrassment in his voice.

'He really liked me that way? And I really just laughed at him? Well, yes, it sure is awkward if a small green gecko told you he liked you...'

"Well, there you have it... Please don't ask about it again, it's really embarrassing... Even now you must want to laugh at me, am I right?" he said, raising his head again.

I didn't know how to respond.

'I don't want to laugh at him... I actually think its kind of cute to think of him as a little Trecko admiring a several times bigger human girl. And that girl was supposed to be me...' I chuckled in my head.

'But would I consider it, now that I have turned into a Pokemon?'

I then remembered the time I blushed when he gave his blanket.

'Wait a second... at that moment I might even have considered...'

The thought made me blush again.

Grovyle noticed and gave me a confused look.

"Well, yea, sure. I mean you and me? Pffft." I said nervously as I turned around laying on the floor. "Its getting late, and we need to get some rest... Good night, Grovyle."

"Yea... Good night." he answered. His voice sounded kind of sad.

**Stop music**

I tried to forget those weird thoughts and simply closed my eyes.

Tomorrow we would get our first Time Gear.

* * *

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. Stupid carelessness

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Stupid carelessness  
**

* * *

It sun was just above the horizon when I woke up. I turned around to look at Grovyle. He was still asleep. I got up and walked around our camp a little, trying to properly wake up my body. We were near the entrance of a cave. At the place where our fireplace used to be, now was a pile of ash.

I got back to Grovyle and looked at him for a while. The awkwardness from yesterdays conversation was still bugging me. Just when tried to think further about it, Grovyle opened his eyes. He got up and gave me a confused look.

"Did you watch me while I was sleeping?" he asked. The question made me turn red again.

"No,no,no! I was just waiting for you to wake up!" I yelled, shaking my head so fast that it got blurry.

Grovyle replied by letting out a sigh. He picked up his bag and grabbed a few seeds out of it.

"Here, I don't know what we will come across in there, so those might come in handy." Grovyle said, handing them to me.

"What do they do?" I asked examining them in my paw.

"Those are blast seeds. You can throw them at enemies. They let out a small explosion when they make contact. Or you can crack them open in your mouth. That way it somehow lets you spit fire. Nobody is really sure how that works. I have used one myself before. Even though I'm a grass-type, the fire didn't feel hot in my mouth." the grass-type explained.

I put them into my pouch and walked towards the entrance of the cave. When I turned around to see if Grovyle was coming along. I noticed him look at my... I got somewhat angry.

"Did you just check me out?!" I asked. His face turned into a shocked one. He then shook his head just like I did moments before.

"Riley! We can't worry about stuff like this right now!" he shouted, trying to change the subject. "Come on, lets just get the Time Gear!"

I was getting tired of it too. Somebody who was saving the world couldn't waste his time with unnecessary flirting.

He then took the lead again, heading into the dungeon.

* * *

The dungeon looked just like any ordinary cave. The only thing worth mentioning was the color of the rocks. They had a little purple in them.

The luminous orb Grovyle had given me earlier turned out to be very useful in this dungeon. I lightened up an area that reached out about five meters around me.

We made progress pretty fast, just like last time. Grovyle really knew how to navigate inside of a dungeon. Again, Grovyle would handle most of our enemies. But this time he let me fight a few of them to improve my moves. He also taught me new moves from his fighting-style. I was able to use Extremespeed now, so I could use most of his techniques. I had a lot of wild pokemon to practice on.

After clearing a whole room of pokemon I felt exhausted... Extremespeed really drained a lot of energy. I could see my vision turn blurry when Grovyle gave me an Oran berry to eat. I swallowed it whole and felt better immediately. This berry didn't just heal you, no, it also refilled all of your energy.

I thanked him and we continued clearing the dungeon.

When we finally left the dungeon, we walked into another burrow. There were two paths in front of us leading into two other caves.

"Where should we go?" I asked Grovyle, looking at him with a confused face. He smirked.

Grovyle simply stepped forward, heading towards... the wall between the openings.

When I wanted to ask what he was doing, he passed right through the wall. I was shocked.

'Wait, what?!'

I couldn't believe what I had just seen.

"Grovyle?!" I yelled at the wall in front of me. No response... I got close and put my paw out to touch it. I took one step forward. My paw was now sticking into the wall. I took another step, now passing through it completely. On the other side I could see Grovyle smile at me.

"Does that answer your question?" the grass-type said, still smiling. "We are now in Limestone Cavern.".

He was right, the ground and all the walls around us were made out of Limestone. To our left and right were a few springs. Water was flowing out of them, creating small pools of water.

After admiring them we entered the next Mystery Dungeon. At its end would be our first timegear.

* * *

We went on with our usual routine when exploring a dungeon. Grovyle led the way and defeated most of the enemies. I usually watched him, learning more and more about his way to fight. When he let me take care of the wild pokemon, I tried out any new techniques I picked up from him.

We cleared the first section of the dungeon pretty quickly, never coming across any real trouble. I got tired from using Extremespeed too often once though. Grovyle told me that if I worked on controlling my aura better, I would eventually be able to lower the amount of needed energy.

After a while we came into another part of the cave. The strange feeling from being inside a dungeon had faded. It was like a big room. In front of us was another cave entrance.

"Did we make it? Are we through?" I asked Grovyle.

"Sadly, no. This is just a part of the cave, that isn't effected by the dungeon. Its kind of like a stop between two parts of a dungeon. Bigger dungeons usually split into two parts." the grass-type explained. "If you need a little rest, well, now is the time to do so."

"No, I'm good... We can keep going if you want." I replied. I was feeling a little drained from using a little too much aura, but overall I was fine.

"You sure?" he asked. "Well, if you are fine... Okay, let's go then."

And with that we made it into the deeper part of the cavern.

The second part of this dungeon turned out to be much more dangerous. It was crawling with wild Pokemon and had many traps in almost every room.

Grovyle and me proceeded cautiously, not trying to set off any traps. We were really lucky on the first floors. Nobody of us set off any traps. Grovyle was somehow able to locate each one of them. He always had a great awareness of his surroundings.

Our luck ended when we entered another Monsterhouse. The room got filled with black smoke again. It then revealed several clones of pokemon. Grovyle extended his leaves and dashed forward. I followed.

We were using pretty much the same fighting style. Dashing around, getting to the blind spots of our enemies and striking their weak points.

After a few seconds, the entire room was cleared. Grovyle pulled his leaf blades in and I let my bones dissolve in my hands. I walked over to Grovyle holding my hand up, going for a high-five.

Just then everything got worse. I stepped onto a trap. Not any trap, no, a teleportation trap. The last thing saw before everything went bright, was Grovyle smiling at me, raising his hand. After my eyes regained their vision again, I could see that I was now in the room with the stairs leading to the next floor.

I didn't know what I should do. Waiting for him would have been the wisest decision, but I somehow got drawn towards the stairs in front of me. 'I'm going to meet him at the end anyway.' I thought, trying to find an excuse for my stupid decision.

With that, I proceeded to the next floor.

* * *

I was now in a huge room. Stalactites were hanging from the ceiling. In front of me was another opening. 'Wait, I'm outside of the dungeon... That means that the Time Gear has to be behind that opening! Heh, Grovyle is going to be so jealous." I cheered in my head.

I walked into the center of the room. Upon getting closer to the opening, a strange feeling overcame me. Then I noticed something. My right hand. Something on the back of it was faintly glowing. I held my paw up in order to examine the strange glow. At the back on my hand was some sort of symbol. I couldn't make out the shape, though it somehow resembled a gear or something like that. I wasn't able to investigate it any further, because suddenly, I heard a voice.

"Turn back now." It ordered. I couldn't make out the direction which it was coming from.

"Where are you?!" I yelled.

"Turn back now, this cave has nothing of value for you." the voice replied.

"It has! I'm looking for the Time Gear!" I explained.

"I see, so you must be the thief that stole the Time Gear from Threeshroud Forest. Magnezone already informed me about its disappearance. Well, I think you leave me no other choice then. I will protect this place and reclaim the other Time Gear." the voice said.

I was now able to make out the direction it was coming from. It came from...below me?

Under me, a pink liquid starting to solidify. I jumped a few feet away from it. It finished and revealed a pink blob with a line as mouth and two dots as eyes.

A Ditto.

"Wait, you don't understand, I'm collecting the Time Gears to save the world! You see in the future time..." I tried to explain, but I couldn't go any further.

"SILENCE!" the Ditto yelled. "I will not get fooled by your lies... Sure, the future..."

I now understood what Grovyle meant back then. That Ditto marked me insane, as soon as I started talking about the future.

"I don't think that you will give me the other Time Gear voluntary, right?" It asked. Somewhat unnecessary. Both of us knew that we were just about to fight.

I put my paws together focusing energy into them. This time I overcharged my bones on purpose. Having poured enough energy into my paws, I pulled them outwards, creating a shining bone between them. It was almost pure white, no trace of the usual silver left. When the bone was long enough I broke it in half as usual. I then spun my batons in my hands for a while before getting into my battle stance.

I knew myself that I exaggerate there, but somehow it was fun showing of my skills with them that way.

The Ditto looked kind of impressed (Actually its kind of hard to read body language when you are facing a blob with dots for eyes.),what lifted my mood even further. I was really excited for this battle. I knew that Ditto were able to change into other Pokemon, so I was curious to find out in which form this one would choose to fight me with.

"Ever seen a legendary Pokemon?", the Ditto asked as it started glowing.

'A legendary Pokemon? Is this guy really able to turn into one of those? Oh boy, now I'm getting even more excited!'

A grin formed on my face.

The Ditto started glowing even brighter, when its form started to change. Its whole body was expanding and shifting.

When its transformation was done, the glow faded, revealing a Terrakion in its place.

In front of me now stood a roaring bull-like creature. It stood on all of its four legs and had 2 huge, brown horns on the side of its head. Two other zigzag-shaped horns were sticking out at the top of its head. Its fur was mainly gray, but it had a beige underbelly with stripes on it. It had brown hoofs and on its lower legs were beige stripes that looked like sandals. On its shoulder, two orange plates were sticking out. On its rear, a stubby, grey tail.

That thing was massive. My height went a little under its shoulder plates.

**BGM: Secret Super Training - Pokemon X&Y**

The bull blew steam out of its nose and used its right front leg to dig in the ground.

And then it charged at me. In a matter of seconds, the distance between us reached almost zero. I jumped to the side to avoid the attack. The legendary quickly turned around and dashed at me again, though this time I went for a counter. I jumped over it and threw my right overcharged bone at its back. It roared when the explosion on its back went off. I landed on the floor and created a new bone in my right paw.

The Terrakion changed its strategy. It slammed its front legs into the ground, creating a small shockwave. I thought that it was using Earthquake, so I jumped about one meter into the air, to avoid any damage. To my dismay, I was wrong. The ground under me started to crack and several stone pillar shot out of it. Stone Edge.

They made a direct hit and sent me flying towards the ceiling. As if the pain from the attack wasn't enough, I now had another problem to worry about. Over me were hanging several stalactites, ready to impale me, if didn't do something. I struggled to change my direction in the air. The force from the last attack was just too I strong.

I could see the deadly spikes come closer and closer, when I, luckily, had another memory.

_I was standing near a cliff. Next to me was a bird-like pokemon. Its beak looked something like a mask. It was green, red, and orange at the top of it. It had two red arms with claws at the end of them. Under its arms were green wings. Its upper feet had white feathers on them and its lower feet were yellow with three claw-like toes sticking out of them. A Hawlucha. "Okay, now you try it." I could hear it say. My vision turned towards the edge of the cliff. I started to run towards it and... jumped off. But when I was about to fall, my whole body spun around and created a dense stream of air around it. The stream threw me back above the solid ground. I landed and looked over to the Hawlucha again. It gave me a thumbs up with its claws. Then my vision ended.  
_

Back in the real world I spun my body around, creating a large amount of dense air streams around it. Just when I was about to his the stalactites, my body shot back towards the ground. I landed on my feet and looked back at my now surprised enemy.

'Great, another new move. Better make some use of it.'

I then unleashed a lot of aura around me. I would end this battle now. That Ditto just tried to kill me.

Time around me slowed down, and I dashed around the Terrakion, throwing my charged batons at it. The legendary even struggled to keep me in its sight, while I cycled around it. Whenever the fighting-type tried to hit me with another Stone Edge, I used my new "Air Recovery" move to dodge the stone pillars. I kept up my barrage of attacks until it suddenly let out a roar so powerful, that it created a shockwave around it. The wave made all the smoke and dust around the bull-like pokemon disappear, revealing that it was now covered in several bruises and burns. Bone Rush was a ground-type move, so it was super-effective against the rock/fighting-type.

The shockwave even sent me flying back a little. I landed on my feet and got back into my stance, awaiting its next move. I was panting a little. I had used a lot of aura using Extremespeed for such a long amount of time. I also had created a lot of bones to keep up my attacks, making me feel even more drained.

The Terrakion was also panting. It had one of its eyes closed. I could see that it was in pain.

"I think I kind of underestimated you. You are very strong, considering that you are just a Riolu." it said. "I think I will have to use my newest form to defeat you."

The Terrakion started glowing again. Its form changed again. Though something was different. A lot of dust stirred around the legendary. I could feel a lot of energy coming from it.

When its transformation was complete and the glowing faded, a Lucario stood in its place.

Though something about it was different. It paws and feet were red, and had more spikes than usual sticking out of them. The aura-sensors on the back of its head were much longer and had red on their ends too. Its tail was covered with the same fur on its chest and it had a lot of black markings on its body. It seemed familiar somehow.

Luckily it was still covered in burns and bruises and had its left eye closed.

A lot of dust flew around it, when it was suddenly gone. 'Extremespeed!?' I turned around to see it throw a glowing fist towards my face. It was too fast. I couldn't dodge and its attack made contact, sending me flying. And boy, did it hurt. My batons disappeared as my feet left the ground.

My flight was stopped by crashing into a wall. I could hear a crack when I felt the impact. I landed on my chest, sending another wave of pain through my body. I struggled to get up, but I managed to raise my head after a little while. My vision was blurry, and my whole body was in pain. What hurt the most was my back. Maybe the impact had broken something.

I looked to the center of the room. The Lucario was staring at me. Its eye was still closed and it was panting a little more than before. Extremespeed must have used a lot of its aura.

I got up. My legs were shaking. I got into the battle-pose, I used when I was fighting against the Electrike.

"Still want to fight?" the Lucario asked. "Fine! Lets finish this!"

"Less talking, more fighting!" I yelled, concentrating on Extremespeed. Then I dashed forward. I was still in a lot of pain, but I ignored it.

The Lucario did the same. When we were close to each other, both of us sent off a barrage of punches and kicks. None of us was able to hit the other one. Our speeds were even. I dodged each one of his attacks. He did the same with mine. I grit my teeth. I could feel that my energy resources were nearly gone.

I had to change my strategy. I knew that it would probably be me who would run out first. Suddenly I knew, how I could end the battle.

I backstepped, ending our hand to hand fight. I opened my pouch and pulled out the blast seed, Grovyle gave me earlier. I put it into my mouth and bit down on it. I could feel the flames inside of my mouth, but they really weren't hot.

My enemy grit its teeth when it realized what I was about to do.

I opened my mouth and let the fire escape it. A huge fireball engulfed the Lucario. It let out a scream when the heat from the flames touched its skin. The steel-type was weak to fire based attacks.

When the fire disappeared, I could see that the Lucario had changed back into a Ditto that was covered in even more burns now. It was clinging onto conciousness. The Ditto wouldn't be able move for the next couple of hours.

**Stop music**

I had won. I wanted to throw my arms into the air, but my body wouldn't let me.

I was completely drained. My whole body hurt and my vision was blurry. I opened my pouch to look for an Oran berry. I wasn't able to find one...

I decided to head towards the opening. I had to get the Time Gear. Grovyle would come out of the dungeon any second anyway. I was sure of that.

When I made my first step towards it, I could feel something grab onto my left leg.

The Ditto was sticking onto it. It gave me the most menacing look it could make with its simple face.

"I can't... let you... take it." It panted. Something came out of its body. A blue orb.

"What are you doing?" I asked anxiously.

The blue orb started to glow and a bright light engulfed me. The last thing I saw before everything went white, was Grovyle coming out of the Mystery Dungeon, his face full of shock.

And then, I felt like I was floating... Everything around me started to spin around and I felt dizzy. My head started to hurt and I could feel my conciousness fading.

Then everything went black.

* * *

**End of Chapter 4  
**


	5. Riley and Ozu

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Riley and Ozu  
**

* * *

As I slowly regained conciousness, the first thing I felt was pain.

The adrenalin from the fight really must have dulled my senses. Trying to move turned out to be very painful. The left side of my back hurt like hell. I assumed that one of my ribs must be broken or cracked.

I was, luckily, laying on my right side.

My other senses slowly came back to me too. I could feel that something was laying on top of me. Probably a blanket. My head rested on something like a pillow. On my right side I could feel hay or something similar to that.

As I regained my sense of hearing, I could hear muffled sounds all around me. They sounded like voices. 'Are there people around me? Ugh, what happened?'

Those thoughts made me remember the recent events. I still had no idea what that Ditto did to me.

I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't bring up the energy to do so.

My hearing returned to its full capabilities, and I was finally able to make out what the voices were saying.

"...cracked rib and several bruises. Her body overall, is very weakened." a female voice said. It had something like a clinging behind it.

"Is there something we can do to help her?" a male one responded. It probably belonged to a thirteen to fourteen year old boy.

"For now, she needs rest. I treated all of her wounds with Oran berry juice and bandages. I can't do much about her rib right now though. We will have to wait until she wakes up. A few Sitrus berries and her bone should be fixed in no time." the female one answered. "But you could go and ask the Kecleon brothers for a few more Oran berries. Our stock on them has run low in the last few days."

"Okay, Chimecho! We will be right back! Come on, Riley, let's go!", the boy said.

"Sure thing!" a new female voice said. It probably belonged to a fourteen year old girl. It was somewhat similar to mine...

'Wait a second! Did the boy just call that girl Riley?!'

I could hear footsteps, running off into the distance.

I tried really hard to open my eyes now. I moved around a bit, sending a wave of pain through my body. 'Ugh, dammit!'

I kept on struggling for a while, but the pain soon sent me back to my place.

I didn't want to sleep, so I was caught in my thoughts for now.

Where was I? Who were those people around me? Why was that girl called Riley? Was it just a coincidence? What did that Ditto do to me? What happened to Grovyle? Did he managed to collect the Time Gear? What about all those weird memory shreds I had?

All those thoughts spun around in my head.

I was getting tired of it. I ignored my desire to stay awake and put my mind at rest.

* * *

When I woke up again, I could hear the voices from before again.

"Its been a day and she still hasn't woken up." the female voice said.

"Can you believe that she just appeared in front of us out of thin air?" the boy asked.

"That was not the best way to come home from a hard mission." the girl chuckled.

"Haha, yes. Carrying her all the way down here wasn't pleasant either. Well, I hope she wakes up soon. I'm very curious about what happened to her. I'm still really exited for our expedition too. I'm so happy that everyone is allowed to come along." the boy responded.

I tried to open my eyes again. This time with success. I went even one step further and lifted myself up, resulting in a lot of pain, though it was bareable this time.

"Hey, she is waking up! Take it easy there Riolu!" the girl said upon noticing.

I was finally able to see my saviors. In front of me were two figures.

To my left stood a yellow mouse. Its brown eyes were inspecting me keenly. It had long, yellow ears stick out from the top of its head. The tips of them were black. I could make out a lightning shaped tail sticking out from its back, though it had a little notch at its ending, making it somewhat resemble a heart. There was a red scarf tied around its neck. It was a female Pikachu.

To my right was an orange monkey. It had silver-colored eyes. Its belly was beige and had a circle symbol on it. Most of its fur was orange. Its hands and feet were beige just like its belly. At the place where its butt should have been was burning a small fire. On its head was a lot of curled up hair. It was a Chimchar.

Though something about him was familiar. He had a pair of desert-goggles on his forehead. Looking at him gave me a strange feeling.

After inspecting them, they suddenly started bombarding me with questions.

"How are you? What is your name? Do you remember what happened to you?" they asked in union.

They were silenced by another figure. I was able to identify it as a Chimecho, explaining the clinging sound when she spoke.

"Will you two shut up?! My patient needs rest!" she yelled at them. They backed away from me immediately.

She flew over to me and inspected me. Her eyes started to glow in a bright blue light and two yellow berries flew out from a nearby bowl.

"Here, eat them. They will take care of your cracked rib and any other internal injuries you might have." she ordered.

I did as told and consumed the two berries. All of a sudden, all my pain was gone. I moved around in my bed. I wanted to see if I still had any pain but there was no one to be found.

"Thank you." I said, giving her a warm smile.

"No problem. Do feel any pain?" she asked. I shook my head.

"That's a good sign! It means that the berries are doing their job. But don't let that make you think that you can go out and run a marathon. Healing a bone takes time!" she explained. "You might still feel some pain if you move in a bad way. Just take it easy for the next couple of days."

"Okay...uhm...where am I?" I asked.

The Chimchar spoke up again. "You are at Wigglytuff Guild! The best exploration guild there is!"

"And where exactly is that?" I still had no idea of my location.

"Its right next to Treasure Town. Haven't you heard from it before?" the Chimchars look turned somewhat shocked.

I shook my head again. Treasure Town didn't ring a bell either. I cursed at myself for not inspecting the map I had bought from the merchant.

"Anyway, where are my manners? I should introduce ourselves before asking any questions. My name is Ozu." the Chimchar said.

"This is Chimecho. She is the cook and the nurse of our guild." Ozu continued, pointing at the psychic-type with his finger.

"And this is Riley. She is my partner. Both of us joined the Guild just recently." he finished, now pointing at the Pikachu to his right.

My eyes fixed onto the Pikachu. She was the other Riley. Why did we have the same name? I needed to learn more about her.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, can you tell us yours?" the fire-type asked.

"My name is..."

Just then I remembered what Grovyle told me a couple of days before.

_If we really have to make contact with somebody from this time, just use a fake name or your species name._

But the thought of lying to people who were so nice to me was just horrible.

"...Riley too. What a coincidence." I answered. 'Sorry, Grovyle.'

All of their faces turned surprised. Though the Pikachu gave me a slightly different look.

"That's... well, yeah! What a coincidence." Riley responded.

"Ehm... Anyway, do you remember what happened to you?" she continued. "You appeared right out of nowhere when we found you. We were just coming back from a mission when you were suddenly laying in front of the stairs leading up to the guild."

'Can I tell them? About Grovyle, the Time Gears and the future? That Ditto thought I was crazy right when I started to talk about it... No, I can't endanger our mission any further. My real name is enough for now. But what should I tell them then? I have amnesia... The only things I know are from Grovyle. My only memories are about travelling with him. Dammit, I kind of want to go with amnesia, but... Wait, I know!'

"I was travelling with a friend and we were exploring a mystery dungeon. Inside we got separated and I went on without him. At the last floor I fought a strange Lucario guarding some kind of treasure. I managed to defeat it, but then it pulled out an orb. The next thing I know is waking up here." I answered. "Everything from before that is just really foggy. Maybe that orb did something to my memories?".

The Chimchar and the Pikachu gave me a strange look.

I let out that my enemy was a Ditto. Maybe it was known among certain Pokemon that a Ditto is guarding the Time Gear at Limestone Cavern.

"Well, that explains a lot. That Lucario must have used an enhanced Warp Orb. Though I don't think that such an Orb is able to effect memories. Maybe he hit your head in the fight?" Chimecho explained.

"So what are you going to do now? Will you look for your friend?" Ozu asked.

"Yes, I plan on doing so... Ehm, where is my bag? Did I still have it when you found me?" I replied, looking around in the room.

"Oh! Yes, its right here" Chimecho said, her eyes starting to glow again.

On the other side of the room was a small table. My pouch was placed on it. It started to glow and slowly floated over to me.

I grabbed it and examined its contents. Almost empty. Only two Pecha berries, one Rawst berry, one Blast seed and my Luminous Orb were left.

I closed it and noticed that the Pikachu was staring at it with an "in deep thought" expression.

I got out of my hay-bed and attached my pouch to my right leg again.

Now that the blanket wasn't covering my body anymore, I could see that it had several bandages all over it.

"Hey, don't put too much stress onto your body!" Chimecho ordered. "Take it easy."

"You should rest a little longer. Our guild is going onto an expedition tomorrow. If you want, Riley and me can help you look for your friend, after we come back from it." Ozu approached me. He had mentioned something about an expedition before.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think I will look for him myself." I replied. The Chimchar gave me a sad look.

"That's too bad...Where did you lose him anyway?" he asked. Another uncomfortable question.

"Well, we were exploring a cave. I don't remember its name though." I lied.

"Where were you before you explored that cave then?" he kept going.

'Ugh, I gotta think of something. I'll just take one of the places I know and hope that it sounds plausible.'

"Before that, we were somewhere around...ehm... Foggy Forest." I answered.

Foggy Forest was the area around Fogbound Lake. I was believable, that we lived somewhere near it.

All of them gave me a surprised look.

"Another coincidence! Our expedition is heading towards Fogbound Lake!" Ozu explained, giving me a smile.

'God dammit.', I started to sweat a bit. I knew where this was going.

'Wait.. Grovyle said that he would head there next. What if those people met him and found out about his plan to steal the Time Gear? Im sure that they would try to stop him... I have to do something... Maybe I should come with them... My next stop would be Fogbound Lake anyway. And that way I wouldn't have to travel alone. I could learn more about that Pikachu too. When we reach the forest I could look for Grovyle and the Time Gear.'

"We can ask Chatot and the Guildmaster if you may accompany us." he offered.

"...Thank you, Ozu! I would love to travel with you." I said, giving him a smile.

"Okay, let's go to Chatot then. Is it okay for her to leave the infirmary?" he asked Chimecho.

"I would advise against her, coming onto the expedition. Her bone is still healing. I know that Riolu are usually tough, but the long journey can be unhealthy for her." the psychic-type explained.

"I can handle it, I've had injuries far worse than that." I replied. I didn't remember anything from before but somehow this statement didn't feel like a lie.

"Oh, you must be really strong then! You also mentioned defeating a Lucario before. I haven't heard of many Riolu that were able to defeat their evolved forms." Ozu commented.

Him calling me strong made me feel happy somehow.

"Thanks!" I replied warmly.

The Chimchar and the Pikachu then led me out of the room.

I was now standing in a huge hall. The walls mostly looked like the ones found inside of a cave, but they had a few bricks implemented into them. A few vertical wooden beams seemed to further support the whole structure.

We were underground, but somehow the room had two windows. Looking outside, revealed that it was almost nighttime. On the other side of the room was another door.

To my right was a hallway. On one of its walls were a few signs. They had weird symbols drawn onto them. 'Footprint runes.' One of them read "Sleeping Quarters".

'Wait a second... How am I able to read this weird Pokemon handwriting? Did Grovyle teach me in the future?' I ignored any further questions and looked around in the room again.

In front of me was a wooden ladders. They reached all the way into a hole in the ceiling. Probably into the next floor.

To my left was another hallway with signs in it. One of them read "Dinning Hall". Next to the hallway was a hole in the ground. A ladder was sticking out of it.

In the middle of the room stood a weird structure. It was made out of stone and resembled a Croagunk. Coincidentally, a Croagunk was standing inside of it. Behind it was some sort of caldron. It noticed me and gave me a soul piercing stare. I jumped a little and faced Ozu and Riley again.

"The Guildmaster's office is right behind this door." Riley explained, pointing at the other door in the room.

We walked right in front of it. The Pikachu then knocked on it a couple of times.

"You may come in!" a parrot-like voice replied.

* * *

We opened the door and entered the office. It was similar to the big hall, but a lot of carpets were decorating the room. In the middle of it stood a big desk.

Inside of the room were two other pokemon.

In front of the desk was a Chatot. It looked similar to a parrot. It head was shaped like a music note.

Behind the desk stood a Wigglytuff. A rabbid-like creature with pink fur and huge turquoise eyes. On its head was a small tuft of hair. Its belly was white.

"Ah, Team Ignition. I see that the Riolu you saved yesterday is well again. What is your request? The guildmaster and I have to work on the division of the expedition members, so make it quick." the Chatot said.

"Well, you see Riley here, was exploring a dungeon with a friend and they got separated. Through a warp orb, she got teleported here. She wants too look for her friend...and...uhm... she thinks that her friend is at Foggy Forest.' Ozu explained timidly.

"Riley? Your name is Riley too?" Chatot gave me a surprised look. "I already told everyone that this is an guildmember-only expedition. As long as she isn't a member of this guild, I'm afraid that I have to say no."

Ozu sunk his head.

Suddenly Riley spoke up. "Hey, what if she joins our team? She would be a guild member then, right?"

Ozu rose his head again. "That's, true!"

"Well, you are right with that, but I think you should ask her first before you get your hopes up." Chatot replied.

"What do you say? Will you join our team? We can go on many adventures together, explore dungeons and find a lot of treasures!" Ozu got excited just by talking about it.

'What will I say? Is that what an exploration team does? Go on adventures? I had my own adventure to go on. Saving the world. If I join them, I will just hurt them when I have to leave them again. But somehow becoming an explorer sounds interesting. I will join them for now, but as soon as I find Grovyle I will leave again. I better not get too familiar with them.'

"I will join their team." I confirmed.

"Fine... Do you agree with this Guildmaster?" Chatot asked the Wigglytuff.

He didn't respond. He was just standing behind his desk and looked into the air.

"Guildmaster?" Chatot asked again. "Guildmaster, can you hear me?"

Suddenly the fairy-type let out a loud yawn.

"Oh! Hello everyone! And who might you be? A new friend? I love new friends!" he said happily. The Chatot sweatdropped.

"Did you sleep with you eyes open again, Guildmaster?! I've spent the last twenty minutes explaining the division setups to you!" the flying-type screeched.

"But Chatot, work is sooo boring. I would rather talk about exploring... Or even better, Perfect Apples!" Wigglytuff replied. He then faced me again.

"Hey you there! New friend! How do you like Perfect Apples?" he asked.

"Uhm... I like them?" I answered.

'What is wrong with this guy? He's supposed to be the master of this guild?'

"O,o,o! Another friend that loves apples! Chatot who is this? I want her in my guild! Everybody who loves perfect apples has to be in my guild!" he faced the Chatot again.

"Uhm, this is Riley the Riolu... I just asked you if you accept her accession to Team Ignition." the parrot pokemon replied.

"Yes of course I do! I want this new friend in my guild immediately!" Wigglytuff yelled at him.

"Okay, Riolu. You are allowed to join us on our expedition, but you have to come back with us afterwards and finish the training with Team Ingnition. If that's all, you may leave now." *Sigh* "I have to go over the divisions with the Guildmaster... again." he said.

'Dammit, I'm bound to this guild now. I'm sure that they will look for me if I simply walk off with Grovyle.'

"New friend, lets talk about apples again sometime!" Wigglytuff said, while we turned around to leave the room.

Ozu, Riley and I walked out of the office.

They then led me into their own room.

"And this is our room!" Ozu said upon entering it. "We don't have a proper bed for you now, but you can have a little hay from our beds."

"Thank you." I replied.

After we finished making a bed for me, all of us sat down on their own bed.

"So, how do like the guild? I know that the guildmaster can be weird sometimes, but he is really strong!" Ozu started a conversation.

"Well, it looks nice... Are you sure that this Wigglytuff is capable of managing this guild?" I replied.

"Well, Chatot does most of the management... Now that you say it, I really have no idea what Wigglytuff does all the time. He mostly sits in his office and plays around with his Perfect apples." Ozu explained, scratching his chin while doing so. "But he is one of the most famous explorers out there! He is said to be as strong as Team Charm or even Team Raiders!"

"And let me guess, those are the strongest explorers out there, right?" I responded.

"If its like that, I would like to have a battle with him sometime." I added.

I blinked. 'Why do I get so excited when I meet a strong Pokemon?'

"Maybe you can ask him after the expedition." Riley suggested. "You seem like a pretty stong fighter yourself. What moves do you know?"

'Should I tell them about my strange abilities? Maybe they know something about it, or know somebody who deos.'

"I can use Bone Rush, Extremespeed, and some kind of Air Recovery move." I explained.

I didn't tell them about Attract. It wasn't a move I would use in a fight anyway. Actually... I didn't remember how I used it in the first place. Did I just have to flirt with somebody and that was it?

They blinked.

"That are some awesome abilities you have there, Riley!" Ozu replied. "But what do you mean with Air Recovery move?"

"Hmm... how should I explain it? I kind of spin around in the air and use my aura to form dense airstreams around me. And then I can somehow use them to hurl myself around." I clarified.

"Hmm... that sounds like Aerial Ace. Chatot knows that attack. You should ask him about it when you get the chance." the Chimchar advised.

"And what moves do you guys have?" I asked.

"Well...uhm... I haven't fought anybody until recently, so Im still a little inexperienced what my electric-moves are capable of... I learned some physical attacks while we explored. Irontail and Quickattack to be precise. Electric-type based... I can use Thunderpunch and Thundershock." Riley answered. "Im kind of able to use Thunderbolt...but I still need to practice before I can use it properly."

"I mostly use flame-manipulating moves. I can cover my whole body with flames and use them to fight. Haven't mastered it though. I can also spit fire out of my mouth. Most times only Ember comes out, but when I blazed a while ago, I could muster up a fully fletched Flamethrower. Oh, and I can use Fury Swipes." Ozu explained. "But I usually don't use that last move. I have Firepunch and Flamewheel as my main physical attacks."

"So would you guys consider yourselves as strong or..." I further asked.

"We can handle ourselves." Riley declared. "Why do you ask?"

I smirked. "I want to fight you sometime too."

"Wait, you mean a real full on fight?" Ozu asked, concern notably visible on his face.

"No,no,no! I mean a fair match between friends!" I explained, giving him a smile.

They looked at each other and then back to me.

"Yea, friends." they said in union, smiling back at me.

'Wait... I just stated that I see them as my friends... Didn't I say earlier that I don't want to get too familiar with? But somehow... they really feel like friends to me... '

"Well, it's getting late and we need to get up early. Tomorrow we go on the expedition!" Ozu said while he laid down onto his bed.

Riley and me did the same.

"Good night, Riley and...Riley. Haha, we gotta think of something. I can see this turn into a problem." he continued.

"Good night" the Pikachu and I said in union.

I closed my eyes and let the recent events go through my mind again.

'Grovyle must be worried sick. I hope that I find him soon. And tomorrow I will go on this expedition... I wonder how its going to be. Maybe completely different from my journey with Grovyle. Ugh, I shouldn't have called those two friends. They will be even more upset when I leave them. Wait... maybe I can gain their trust and they will believe my story about the future. I will debate about that tomorrow...'

I yawned and brought my body into a comfortable sleeping position.

'Yeah. Tomorrow.'

* * *

**End of Chapter 5**


	6. The Expedition

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 6 - The Expedition  
**

* * *

"UP AND AT 'EM, IT'S MORNING!"

That were the words that ripped me out of my sleep. My whole body jumped and my eyes shot open. They were blurry and not adjusted to the light, making me blink very often. My ears were ringing and I was overall very disoriented.

The ringing slowly faded and my eyes recovered from the rash exposure to light too.

I was in a small room with one window in it. Under me was a hay-bed.

'Ugh... yea right... the guild...' my mind processed.

I looked around in the room and found two other pokemon inside it. They didn't seem to be disoriented like I was. No, the Pikachu was tying her scarf around her neck and the Chimchar was putting his desert-goggles on his head.

"What the hell was that?" I asked groggily.

The Chimchar blinked.

"That was Loudred. He makes that wake-up call every morning. It's really irritating at the beginning, but you will get used to it." Riley explained. "You better hurry and get up, the briefing for the expedition will start soon!"

I got up and followed them outside.

We walked out of the sleeping quarter-hallway. In front of the guildmasters office stood more than a dozen pokemon. I recognized Chimecho, Croagunk, Chatot and Wigglytuff.

Chimecho and Croagunk were lined up with some Pokemon I haven't seen before. I assumed that they were the other guild members.

There was a Loudred, a Sunflora, a Bidoof, a Diglett, a Dugtrio, and a Corphish.

Near the ladder stood three other pokemon. Just by looking at them, I knew that I wouldn't like them. A Skuntank, a Zubat and a Koffing... I could smell them from across the room... It was gross.

Having a more sensitive nose now, made it even worse. I knew that pokemon had an overall better sense of smelling than humans.

When we left the hallway, everybody's view locked onto me. I could hear a lot of mumbling in the crowd.

Ozu, Riley and me arranged ourselves in the crowd. Being watched by everyone gave me a strange feeling. I wanted to speak up and introduce myself, but Chatot took on the task before me.

"Okay, everyone listen up! Before you disturb our briefing because of our new member, I will introduce her. This is Riley the Riolu. The same Riolu, Ozu and Riley brought in the day before yesterday. You can ask her how she ended up here later. She is going to accompany us on the expedition. She joined Team Ignition just yesterday." Chatot announced. "We can't afford any more distractions, so please be quiet. I will now start the briefing!"

Everybody calmed down and took off their stares on me.

Chatot took a deep breath and continued.

"Well, then. Let me explain about this expedition. First of all... the objective. The exploration of Fogbound Lake. It's a lake that is said to be located far to the east. However its perpetually enshrouded by dense fog. As such, its actual existence has never been confirmed..." the flying-type explained."Its also said that a treasure of exquisite beauty is hidden there."

'The Time Gear...'

"Everyone, open your wondermaps please." Chatot ordered.

Ozu had a little backpack on his back that I never noticed before. He took it off and pulled out an enrolled piece of paper. It looked like the map I had bought from the Keckleon merchant.

The other guild members did the same.

Ozu opened up the map and placed it on the floor. I was finally able to see the world I was in now. Not that I remembered anything about the human world. But I assumed that it must have been completely different from this world.

A huge mass of land and several islands were drawn onto the map. I searched for the Southern Jungle. It wasn't really near the south of the big continent, but more to its west. Looking for treasure town revealed that I was now at the east coast of the continent. The Warp-Orb had teleported me all across the land.

Chatot waited for everyone to open their maps, before he spoke up again.

"If you look for Foggy Forest on your map, you will see that its on the southwest of our continent. Fogbound Lake is said to be somewhere inside it. I will make a comment about Foggy Forest when I finished the announcement of the groups." he continued. "We will travel in groups, in order to keep our mobility as high as possible. Before we start our journey, I will place a marker on everybodies map. That marker shows the location of our base camp. It will be at the foot of the highlands just at the border to Foggy Forest."

"Without further ado, I shall announce the groups now." Chatot said while he closed his wondermap. The guild members did the same. He then pulled out a piece of paper.

"First group! Sunflora, Loudred, Diglett and Croagunk." he continued.

The called pokemon walked close to each other.

"You guys! You'd better NOT hold me back." the Loudred said. Its voice sounded male.

'So this is the guy that wakes up everybody... Must not be good for his popularity.'

"You should talk!" the Sunflora countered. It was female.

"The next group is Dugtrio, Chimecho, Corphish and Bidoof." Chatot carried on.

All of them walked into a group, just like the last ones.

"Were a solid group." the Dugtrio commented. Male.

"I promise to try my best." Chimecho said.

"Hey, hey! Likewise!" the Corphish cheered. Also male.

"I will do my best to keep up!" the Bidoof added. It sounded male too... Still a little young though.

"Erm... Lets see... The guildmaster and I shall travel as a pair... That is acceptable, yes?" the parrot like pokemon went on.

Wigglytuff's expression turned to a sad on. "Awwwww?! I have to go with Chatot?! That's so boooooring!"

The Chatot sweatdropped. "Please don't be difficult. This is a key element to our strategy."

The Wigglytuff kept up his sad look. "... Meanie."

Chatot then faced the three poison-types. "Our guests, Team Skull, should travel independent from us as their own group."

"Understood. Chaw,chaw,chaw." the Skuntank responded. It was male. That laugh at the end didn't raise my liking against it in the slightest.

"And the final group will be Ozu, Riley and... ehm... Riolu." Chatot finished.

We looked at each other. Somehow I knew that we would travel together.

"Lets do our best!" Ozu encouraged us. Riley and me nodded, giving him a smile.

"Okay, Riolu here mentioned that she has been to Foggy Forest before. Would you please come out and give us a little insight of what we can expect there." Chatot said, pointing at me. I jumped a little.

'Dammit... I have no idea what Foggy Forest looks like. He mentioned some highlands near it... Riolu usually live in the mountains... Okay... I know what to say.'

I walked next to Chatot and faced the now curious pokemon. All the eyes were focused on me again. I started to sweat a little.

"Uhm... I actually have never been inside the forest. Just in the highlands next to it. I had a good view onto the forest... but I could only see the border because of the... Fog..." I explained. 'That should be believable.'

They lost their expectant expressions.

"That's too bad... but that's why we do this expedition in the first place. To explore!" Chatot replied.

I walked back to Ozu and Riley.

"Okay, everybody. Bring your wondermaps to me, so I can place the marker on them." the flying-type ordered.

All of the guild members did as told and walked back to their groups when they were finished.

"Everyone, let's get to it and move out!" he finished.

"HURRAY!" everyone cheered. Well, expect for me. Though I found it quite inspiring how everybody got pumped up.

All of the guild members left the guild. Our group was the last one to get going. We climbed up the ladder. I could just catch a glimpse of the room above the on I had seen before. It looked similar, but there were some bulletin-boards. Ozu, Riley and me climbed up the last ladder and were then inside of a tent. Looking at it from the outside, revealed that it resembled a Wigglytuff. In front of it was some sort of hole in the ground. It had a wooden grid above it, in order to prevent any pokemon from falling in. Its function was a mystery to me. We then walked down a stairway. On its end, Ozu stopped me.

"That's where we found you." he said, pointing at the ground.

I thanked them again for saving me and we continued walking. We then came across a crossroad. To our left was a fountain. In front of us was a staircase, leading underground. Next to it was a sign. I was able to read "Spinda's Cafe" on it. I kind of wanted to check it out, but we had an expedition to go on.

We walked to our left and faced the exit of treasure town. Ozu opened our map again and planned our route. After he was done, we left the town.

And so our journey to Fogbound Lake started.

* * *

We walked on the dirt road for a very long time. The two were much more talkative than Grovyle. They told me stories about their previous adventures. But when they talked about how they had met, it got really interesting.

"I had tried to join the guild that day, and like the previous times, I chickened out... So I decided to go to the beach. The view there is always so inspiring and calming... We have to take you there after the expedition! Well, I walked down the beach and found her laying unconscious in the sand. When I approached her she woke up and was really shocked... You must know that... Riley has amnesia." Ozu explained.

"Amnesia?!" I replied loudly. It was almost like a shout. Both of them gave me a strange look.

"Oh, ehm, thats horrible... I kind of know what happened before that orb hit me, but you didn't know anything didn't you?" I tried to lift the awkwardness from my last statement.

"Not exactly... All she remembered was her name and..." he stopped there. He faced the Pikachu. "Should we tell her? She is going to be on our team for a while."

"Uhm...okay." she replied.

"You see Riley here, says that she was a human before waking up on that beach." Ozu continued.

I gasped and my eyes shot open, focusing on the Pikachu.

'What the hell?! Who is she? Is she a spy sent by Dusknoir to lure Grovyle out of hiding? Or... what if she... is the real Riley and I... who am I then?'

...

'No, this can't be. Grovyle identified me as his partner... She must be a spy or, or... Simply a human that stumbled into the pokemon world and coincidentally is called Riley.'

They noticed and got worried.

"Are you ok? What got you so upset all of a sudden?" Ozu asked. I didn't answer... Too many questions were flying around in my head.

'But wait... what about those weird memories shreds? I have been human in one before... But in the others... I think that I was a Pokemon... Does that mean that I am not the Riley from the future? I... I, need to calm down. I have to ask her some questions. That way I can maybe find out who she really is.'

I took a few deep breaths and calmed down.

"Riley? Are you okay?" they asked in union. The Pikachu was somewhat shocked to my reaction.

"Yes it's just... I... Do you remember anything from being a human?" I asked the Pikachu. She shook her head. Her expression was still shocked.

"Why do you ask? Are you scared of humans?" she asked with worry in her voice.

'Dammit! What should I tell them after that scene I just made? Tell them everything? Or just run off and... What if she is a spy? She would run to Dusknoir and tell him about me immediately. No, I need to know more about her. Ugh, come on, think... I know!'

"Uhm... No, its just that... I think me and my friend used to do research on humans. I think that's the reason we went into that cave in the first place. That you claimed to be human just shocked me a little bit. It's too bad you don't know anything. It would have been great for our research." I answered. 'Please buy it.'

Her expression became calm again. Somewhat relieved.

"Oh, I thought you would hate me for it or be scared from me." she said. 'Thank god.'

"But wait, if you researched humans... what can you tell me about them?" Riley asked. 'Does she want to test me too? Heh, I can play that amnesia game too.'

"...I don't remember a lot of it... Everything is really foggy and... I'm sorry." I answered. She gave me a sad look.

Ozu decided to speak up again. "That's too bad, so where was I? Yeah, right. So after she told me she was human, Koffing and Zubat came up behind me, knocked me down and stole my relic fragment. You might have seen them before. Those douches are part of Team Skull."

He then pulled out some sort of stone from his backpack. It had a weird symbol on it. After he showed it to me, he put it back.

"They ran off into a mystery dungeon and I was too scared to go after them. But Riley offered me her help and together we managed to retrieve my personal treasure.", he carried on. "After that we went to the beach again and I asked her if she wanted to form an exploration team with. She said yes and we joined the Wigglytuff Guild on the same evening."

"That's a nice story." I commented.

'I can't just ask that Pikachu about Grovyle, and Dusknoir. If she really is a spy, she would call me out... I will let that topic rest for a while. Hell, all of those question are going to make me insane. I have to distract myself from it. Maybe if I spend some more time with them, I can learn more, without raising any suspicion.'

"I'm kind of fed up on information... Can we keep on walking without any more chatting? I would love to enjoy the view a bit." I tried to finish our conversation.

They gave me a somewhat sad look and nodded.

* * *

We continued our journey and finally arrived at our first destination. A mystery dungeon called Craggy Coast. It was a shortcut if somebody wanted to travel to the east.

I would finally be able to see what my new team members were capable of. Also, I would be able to show them what I could do.

Before we entered, Ozu stopped me. "Are you sure that you are ready to go into a dungeon. You are still covered with bandages. Chimecho told you to take it easy."

I had almost forgotten about them. I was feeling fine. I unwrapped a bandage on my shoulder, and revealed... nothing. I removed the other ones too and saw that all of my wounds had healed. When I wanted to remove the one wrapped around my chest, Riley stopped me.

"At least keep that one. Your rib was cracked. Don't forget that!" she said with concern.

I nodded and we made our preparations for the dungeon. Ozu gave me a few Oran berries. I put them into my pouch.

The Pikachu had a pouch similar to mine. It was somehow attached to back of her hip. When I asked her about it, she told me that she made a knot into her fur in order to connect it with a string on the back of the pouch. Clever.

The Chimchar stocked her up on supplies too.

"I think we should talk about that name thing. I think its best if each of you gets a nickname." Ozu offered.

"Fine, what names do you suggest?" Riley asked.

"Well, Riley is a Riolu... Riley... Riolu... Ri? Ri are the first two letter of Riley and Riolu. Ri would fit." he replied.

I shrugged. "Fine by me."

Ozu then faced the Pikachu.

"And for you... Uhm... Lets just give you the rest of the letters and call you Ley." he continued.

"I don't like it... What kind of name is Ley? Hmm... let's go with Lya! I kind of like that one." Ril... Lya replied.

"Fine, now that that's out of the way, let's do our best in there!" the Chimchar cheered.

With our preparations now complete, we entered the dungeon.

* * *

At first, I wanted to take the lead, but Lya quickly took that job from me.

She was quite skilled in navigating us through the dungeon. But not as good as Grovyle though.

The first few floor went by without any complications. We didn't come across any wild pokemon.

When we finally met them, I let Lya and Ozu take care of our enemies. I wanted to see their fighting-styles.

Ozu mostly used his Ember attack. It wasn't very effective against the many water-types we had to face.

This dungeon was Lya's time to shine. She fried most of the water pokemon with her Thundershock. Sometimes she got close and used Thunderpunch and Irontail.

She didn't really have a proper style. She just used one attack after another.

'I guess she didn't lie about not fighting until recently. Maybe I should train with her sometime... Wait! Ugh, get yourself together. She could be a spy and all of this is just an act.'

We cleared three more floors, when we came across two strong-looking pokemon. A Tyrunt and a Carracosta.

I faced the Tyrunt and let my comrades take care of the other one.

They would finally be able to see what I was capable of.

I created my bones and spun them around a bit.

I then used Extremespeed. From one moment to the next, only stirred up dust could be found at the place I just stood at.

I reappeared right above the rock-type's head and brought my bone down on it. The attack sent its head towards the ground. Upon impact, the Tyrunt turned into black smoke.

After my finished attack, I landed on my feet, let my batons disappear and looked over to my allies. They had a bit of trouble with the water/rock-type.

I decided to help them and used Extremespeed again. I dashed right behind the massive turtle and used an Aerial Ace enhanced kick against the back of its head to knock it out.

My friends were speechless.

"Rile..uhm... Ri... That was unbelievable. How can you be so fast? It looked like you just vanished." Ozu's mouth was wide open.

"That was Extremespeed. I don't know exactly how I use it, but it has something to do with my aura." I explained, giving him a grin.

"Wow, we are really lucky to have someone as strong as you on our team." he continued. My grin turned into a happy smile.

"Thanks!" I replied.

* * *

The rest of the dungeon went on without any further trouble.

When we finally cleared it, we found ourselves at the foot of a mountain.

Ozu made a quick check on the map.

"Okay, now we have to cross this mountain. It's a mystery dungeon an is called Mount Horn." Ozu informed us. "But if we start now, it's probably going to be nighttime. Should we just call it a day?"

"Oh, come on! It's probably going to take five more hours for the sun to set." I refused to stop here.

I was really motivated. Somehow I wanted to be the first one to reach our camp.

"I have to go with Ri there. I'm not tired and.. I would like to be the first group to reach the camp." Lya said in a confident voice.

I blinked.

"Fine, let's get going then." the fire-type replied.

* * *

The next dungeon was much easier to go through. The three of us worked together.

Lya navigated, I mostly fought and Ozu kept us fit and healthy. Everybody had his role. We were becoming a good team. I slowly started to trust them and somehow it felt like that they did the same.

Though I was still a little sceptical when I faced the Pikachu. When we reached the camp, I would have to talk to her...alone.

After clearing the last floor we found ourselves at the other side of the mountain. We were now in the highlands around Foggy Forest. It was late evening. The sun was about to set.

"Does this place bring back any memories?" Lya asked.

'Oh, right! I told them that I had been here before.' I looked around a bit before I answered.

"Nope..." I said with a sad face. She responded with a concerned look.

Ozu opened our map again. "We are nearly there. The camp should be this way." he said, pointing towards the valley.

We covered the rest of the route and finally arrived at the base camp.

To our dismay, we only took the second place.

There was already a tent built up. The tent had the shape of a Wigglytuff. In the middle of the clearing, a fireplace was already set up and a fire was burning in it.

I looked over to Lya for a moment. She looked like she was in deep thought.

We approached the tent.

"Hello?" Ozu called out.

The tent opened. Chatot and Wigglytuff came out of it, greeting us in the process.

Chatot then instructed us to build up our own tent. He and the guildmaster then took place near the fire.

We did as told and after ten minutes, the construction was complete.

Ozu, Lya and I then joined the other two explorers.

"So, how was your journey?" Chatot started the conversation.

"It was great! Thanks to Ri, we had no problems in the dungeons. She is really strong." Ozu replied.

"I'm not that strong, come on." I added, rubbing the back of my head. Everyone gave me a smile.

"Ri? Oh, I see you took care of that name problem. So the Pikachu Riley is still called Riley or did she get a new nickname too?" Chatot continued.

"Its Lya... Whenever Ri and I are together, just call me Lya." the Pikachu replied.

"Okay, Lya. So which route did you choose?" he asked.

"Our first stop was Craggy Coast. After we cleared that dungeon, we crossed Mount Horn." Lya explained.

"Ah, I see... Did anything worth mentioning happen?" he carried on.

"No, our journey went by without any complications." I answered.

"Hey Ri, you can ask Chatot about Aerial Ace now." Ozu mentioned.

"Aerial Ace?" the flying-type asked curiously. "Are you able to use it?"

"Yes... I think. We are not really sure if it's Aerial Ace." I explained. "Wait, I will show you."

I got up and went away from them. When the distance was big enough, I concentrated the air streams around me. I then jumped up. In the air, I made a front-flip and used the air streams to fling myself up even further.

I got a little applause when I landed. My face turned red and I rubbed the back of my head again.

"That was indeed, Aerial Ace. I heard that non flying-types could learn it, but it would take a lot of training." Chatot responded. "Your technique is almost prefect... Who taught you?"

'Who taught me? I think that it was a Hawlucha... But how can I have met one before... Ugh, don't think about it. Just tell them.'

"A Hawlucha." I replied.

Everybody gave me a strange look.

"What is a Hawlucha?" Ozu asked. "Is it some kind of pokemon?"

"Yes, it's a flying and fighting type. But I never heard about one that lives on our continent." Chatot answered.

"Where did you meet it?" the parrot like pokemon faced me again.

"I don't know..." I said with a sad voice. I really didn't.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Chatot was confused now. "Do you have amnesia?"

"Yes, she thinks that the Warp Orb somehow damaged her memories." the Chimchar explained.

Chatot blinked. "That's strange... I never heard of an orb that is able to erase memories."

'I gotta change the topic, I don't want to talk about it right now.'

"Chimecho said that it could have come from the fight before the Lucario used the orb... So when do you think the others will come?" I replied.

"We will see... Its getting late, maybe they wanted to take a stop and rest for the night." the flying-type answered. "I'm actually quite impressed that the newest guild members arrived only shortly after us."

He faced the Wigglytuff. It had a huge snot-bubble coming out of its nose.

Everybody sweatdropped.

"Was he asleep all this time?" Lya asked.

Chatot sighed. "He is probably tired from the trip. He was so excited for the expedition, that he made a sprint all the way to the camp. Even when I was flying, I was barely able to keep up. I will take him to his bed... You three should get some sleep too. When everybody arrives tomorrow, we will start exploring the forest."

He then wished us a good night and brought the sleepwalking Wigglytuff into their tent.

The three of us spent some more time at the fire. I guessed that it would be good time to talk with Lya in private. Only problem I had to get out of the way was Ozu.

'Hmm, how can I get him to leave us two alone... Heh, let's try...'

"Hey... Uhm... Ozu, could you let us two girls speak in private for a bit?" I asked him.

He and Lya gave me a confused look.

"What do you mean?" the Pikachu replied.

"Yeah, why don't you want me to stay?" the confused Chimchar asked.

'I hope this will work.'

"Yeah... Uhm... I kind of want to talk about... Girl stuff... I think it could be uncomfortable for you." I answered.

Ozu turned red. "Oh, okay... I will wait in the tent then. Good night." He then got up and walked into our tent.

The Pikachu still had a confused look on her face. "Girl stuff?"

"Am I even old enough for a conversation like this? I think that I'm fourteen or fifteen..." she muttered under her breath.

"Do you want to talk about which one of the boys you find attractive or something? Wait a second... You never told us how old you are." the electric-type asked.

'I haven't even thought about my age before... Fifteen? Sixteen? Grovyle didn't tell me either. Dammit, I should have asked him... Well, let's go with my first impression. Fifteen it is.'

"No, that's not what I wanted to talk about... And about my age... I'm fifteen." I answered.

She was completely perplexed now.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. 'Okay now... let's think about this. What should I ask her. Maybe I should just ask something about Dusknoir. But how should I do it without raising any suspicion? Hmmm... Lets try this...'

I opened my eyes again and looked into her eyes. "Does the name Dusknoir ring a bell to you?"

Her look turned even more confused. "Uhm... Actually, yes. I heard that there is a famous explorer named Dusknoir. Why do you ask?"

'Dusknoir is a famous explorer? So he did travel back in time... Grovyle needs to know about this. Hmm, how do I go on now?'

"Have you ever met him?" I carried on. She shook her head.

"Why do you ask me about him?" Suddenly her expression changed. "...Oh, so that's what you meant with girl stuff! You are a fangirl, right?" she asked with a somewhat mischievous smile.

I sweatdropped. 'Is she serious? She is dead serious isn't she? Oh my god...Okay, that reaction was too random to be an act. If she really was a spy, she would have attacked me or asked something about Grovyle. But... that means... if she is not a spy... Okay, I will go with the other explanation then. She is just a random human named Riley... or... just a crazy Pikachu that thinks it used to be human... I'm not going to get crazy because of some random coincidence... Oh, wait. She asked me question.'

"Kind of... my friend used talk about him all the time. I think." I answered. "And I'm not a fangirl, I haven't met him before either."

"Then why did you ask?" her expression turned confused again.

'Okay, if she is just a random human... Maybe... Should I tell her about me? No, it would be unnecessary. She has amnesia. She couldn't tell me anything about the human world, even if she wanted. So what should I tell her now? Hmm, I kind of want to end this conversation. But how? I don't even remember all of that "girl stuff"... Hmm... Maybe about her and Ozu... It would raise some awkwardness, but after a question like that, she wouldn't want to keep on talking either.'

"No, I just remembered hearing something about him earlier... The real reason I wanted to talk with you... Uhm..." I stopped for a second.

"Are you and Ozu...like... are you two together?" I asked her with a curious face. Now that I had asked the question, I was actually curious about what she would say.

She started to blush.

"N...No. Did it look like it? We are just friends. I used to be human before so something like that would be crazy." she answered nervously.

Her answer remembered me about the awkward conversation I had with Grovyle a few days ago. Her frustration and mine were pretty much the same.

I sighed.

She noticed and got a little upset. "Why? Do you want something from him?"

"What?! No!" I was somewhat shocked by her question.

'What has gotten into her all of a sudden? Is she... jealous?'

"Well... you are a normal Pokemon. What do you see in him then?" the Pikachu was persistent.

"A friend..." I assured her. "Also, I kind of already have a crush on somebody else... I think."

'Wait! Why did I tell her something like that... Ugh, I wanted to ignore that topic. Well, maybe its good that I have another girl to talk about this.'

She looked relieved. "Who is it? Your friend? What is he like?" she asked curiously.

"Well, he is really strong. He is a great explorer and... Uhm... I'm not even sure if im physically attracted to him. But there was a moment when I might have considered it." I explained. "You see, he is not my species and... Ugh, I shouldn't have started this... Please just forget it and I will forget my question about you and Ozu."

My friends expression turned sad. I felt a little sorry for ending our conversation like that, but those topics were just really uncomfortable for me.

I got up and walked towards our tent. Lya followed. When I opened it, I could see that Ozu was already asleep. I grabbed a sleeping bag and lay myself onto the ground. The Pikachu did the same.

It didn't take long before I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up pretty early, next morning. My friends were still asleep, so I decided to go for a morning walk.

I left our tent and looked around the camp. Two more tents were built up. The other guild members were sitting around the fireplace. They must have arrived only a while ago. Everyone looked at me again.

The Sunflora indicated to me to sit down next to her. I walked over to them and did as told.

Everybody started to bombard me with questions. "Are you really called Riley too? Where are you from? Why did you join Ozu's and Riley's team?"

I tried to calm everybody down.

After tiring fifteen minutes, I finished explaining my situation to them. Just then my team members came out of our tent.

"Good, morning Ozu and... Lya." Sunflora greeted them with a smile. The Pikachu blinked.

"Oh, I see. Ri already told you about the new nicknames." Ozu replied. They then joined the other sitting pokemon.

Everybody told about their journeys and what adventures they had on them. There were some interesting stories. One of them mentioned Bidoof stepping into a spinning trap three times. Everybody laughed and the Bidoof turned red. He then countered by telling about Corphish getting knocked out by a Dunsparce.

After an hour of chatting and laughing, the last group finally arrived. It was Team Skull.

When they had finally finished the construction of their tent, Chatot ordered everyone to line up.

"Ehm... Attention, please! It appears that everyone has arrived at our base camp save and sound. We shall now proceed to the exploration of Fogbound Lake. As you can see, we are in a densely forested area. Somewhere within this forest, Fogbound Lake is supposedly concealed... Exploration teams of all stripes have explored this forest before, but so far, nobody was able to find the lake itself." the flying type started.

Suddenly he was interrupted by Chimecho.

"Um, may I?" she asked. "Um, while we were traveling, I heard about a certain legend."

"A legend, you say?" Chatot replied.

"Yes. A legend about Fogbound Lake." she explained. 'Wait, is she talking about the timegear?'

"According to the legend, Fogbound Lake is home to a Pokemon name Uxie. The pokemon is said to be exceedingly rare. Uxie is said to lock eyes with others and wipe their memories clean." she carried on.

'What?!' My eyes shot open.

'Wait, if there is a pokemon that is able to wipe out memories... Maybe... I was... a normal Riolu... maybe I met Uxie and... No, how could I have ended up at Threeshroud Forest then? Another Warp Orb? It can't be... I must have lost my memories when Grovyle and I travelled back in time. God dammit! Why do I always get remembered about that topic. Just ignore it...'

I took a look at Lya. Her face was just as shocked as mine was. Gladly she didn't notice mine. 'She is probably thinking about something similar.'

"That is why, even if travelers were to come across Fogbound Lake... Uxie would just erase their memories. That way it would muzzle the travelers from revealing the existance of the lake. That is how Uxie protects it." Chimecho finished.

A lot of mumbling was heard from the other guild members. After a while, Chatot brought them back to focus again.

"Ahem... You should realize that places of this sort can be expected to have folktale of a legend attached to them. Our guild has overcome difficult challenges and obstacles when conductring successful explorations." he said.

Wigglytuff spoke up again. "Ha ha ha! Don't worry, everything will be all right! Lets believe in success for this adventure too, and... Lets try! Lets try!"

"Lets move on with our plan." the flying type continued. "The guildmaster and I shall remain here to gather intelligence from our teams in the fields. You are to go off in teams to explore this forest. Be aware that this forest is enshrouded in a deep fog. Once you enter it, visibility is severely restricted. We think that Fogbound Lake has defied discovery because of this fog. Perhaps there is way of lifting this fog. Therefore, your search is twofold. One, the search for Fogbound Lake. And two, to find a way to lift the fog. If you accomplish either thing, return to the base camp and tell me or the guildmaster. Alright everyone! Let's give it our best like always!"

"HOORAY!" everyone cheered. This time I joined their cheer. It really was motivating.

The other guild members rushed into the forest. Only Team Skull, Wigglytuff, Chatot and us were left.

The Skuntank stepped forward. "Well then, we should go too. Hmm, boys? Chaw-haw-haw!"

The Koffing and the Zubat replied with a just as annoying laugh. Then they walked off too.

I looked at my teammates. Lya was still in deep thought.

Just then Ozu pulled her out of her trance. "What's wrong? Why did you just drift off like that? Come on, let's get ready and go to the forest."

He then faced me again. "You haven't been focused either. I know what you were thinking about, but maybe if we find Uxie, we can ask it about you two."

The Pikachu and I nodded.

'He is right. Maybe if we find Uxie, I can find a proof of who that other Riley really is. Then I know... Dammit! I am Riley. I came back to this time to find the Time Gears and save the world.' my thoughts stopped for a moment. 'The Time Gear... what if we find it? If I take it, time in this area will stop. And if my friends are inside the blast radius... Wait... if Grovyle and I bring the timegears to Temporal Tower and restore time... The time in this area would become normal again and they would be freed again... Okay, I have a plan now. If I find the Gear, I will take it. I will just have to distract the others and escape the shockwave. After that I would just have to regroup with Grovyle and collect the rest of the gears.'

"Alright, let's roll out!" the Chimchar cheered.

We entered the path leading inside the forest. Looking at my female companion, I could see that she was still in deep thought.

We walked on the path for a while, when Ozu suddenly stopped us. He picked up something from the ground.

Showing it to us revealed that it was some kind of stone.

"Wow, this stone is really pretty. It kind of looks like a gem, actually." he said, examining it. "It feels warm when you touch it! It seems rare, maybe we should keep it."

I inspected the rock. Looking at it gave me a weird feeling.

'Wait a second. Could this be... Grovyle told me about the secret of Fogbound Lake. He mentioned some kind of statue and a gemstone. Could that gemstone be... But... this is just some random gemstone that was laying on the ground. The solution to this secret can't be that easy...'

Ozu put it into his backpack and we entered the mystery dungeon called Foggy Forest.

* * *

Lya had a pretty hard time when she had to fight. The fog was weakening all of her electric-type attacks. When she tried to shock a Hootoot with her Thundershock, it was only covered in a few bruises and dashed at her with its Peck attack. Luckily, Ozu and I helped her out.

The dungeon had a few other flying-types, which were able to use wind based techniques.

A very strong Tranquill gave us a pretty hard time. It flew up high, so it was really hard for us to use our physical moves.

I tried to get close with an "Aerial Ace-Double Jump" but it countered with Air Cutter. The wind blades left a few cuts on my body, and sent me back towards the ground. Throwing overcharged bones at it was ineffective too. It dodged each one of them. Ozu's Ember attacks simply didn't have the range to even touch it.

Our only chance of hitting it, would have been with Lya's electric moves. I looked at her. She looked like if she was coming up with a plan. Just when I thought it, she spoke up.

"Hey, I think I know how we can beat it. Ozu, do you still have that orb we bought from the Kecleon brothers?" the Pikachu asked.

The Chimchar immediately knew what his partner had planned and pulled out a blue orb from his backpack. He then held it above his head and it started to glow.

All of a sudden the flying Tranquill was paralyzed. Not being able to move its wings anymore, made it descend towards the ground. It landed hard, and dissolved into black smoke.

"What was that?" I asked, examining the now grey orb in Ozu's hand.

"That was a foe-seal orb. It's an orb that paralyzes anybody that is hostile towards its user. It has a limited range of course. Luckily that Tranquill was still inside the range of this one." he explained.

I ate an Oran berry to take care of my cuts. The rest of the dungeon went on without any more difficulties.

* * *

After we finished exploring the forest, we found ourselves in a clearing. The fog was still dense, but it sounded like we were near a waterfall.

We walked further into the clearing and were able to see that there were indeed a few waterfalls around us.

"Wow, they there are waterfalls all over the place." Ozu admired them.

"But... where are we? Is this the deepest part of the forest? The fog is so thick, I can't tell which way to go." he was getting a little frustrated.

Just then we heard another voice. "Hey, hey, hey!"

We turned towards its direction. A bit deeper into the clearing we were able to see Corphish waving at us.

We walked up to him.

"Hey, hey! Did you find any clues yet?" he asked.

"No, nothing yet..." Ozu replied. "How about you Corphish?"

"I've got nothing her, either. Don't let it get you down." the water-type answered. "But there is something here that is kind of interesting."

"Interesting?" I was getting curious.

"Come on, I'll show you." he then lead us to a statue that was sticking out of the ground.

'The statue! Then... the stone we found... that's it... The secret of Fogbound Lake has something to do with Ozu's gemstone and this statue.'

We examined the statue.

"What is this? Is it a pokemon?" Ozu asked.

"I've never seen a pokemon like this before." Corphish didn't know either.

I knew what kind of pokemon it was... A Groudon. A legendary pokemon. Somehow, I didn't want to tell them. I didn't want to draw any more attention on me...

Ozu walked around the stone statue.

"Hey, there is something inscribed here!" he suddenly called out.

Everybody walked up behind him. He was right. On the side of the statue were footprint runes.

"Footprint runes... Let me read them." Ozu continued. "Reignite the life that burned within Groudon... Then the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat... The path to treasure shall be revealed."

His eyes got wide. "The path to treasure? That incredible! Guys! Treasure! Could this mean the treasure of Fogbound Lake? The secret to finding Fogbound Lake could be hidden right here!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Y...you think so?" the Corphish was really surprised. "Hey, hey! Now that's a mystery we've got to solve!"

I already knew how to solve the mystery... Somewhere on this statue had to be a place for Ozu's gemstone. After that the fog around this area would fade... But I wanted them find out themselves.

'I will only say something, when they are about to give up.'

Ozu and Corphish repeated the inscribed text over and over again. They theorized for a while when Ozu suddenly offered something I would never have seen coming.

"I know! Lya, touch the statue! Maybe you will see something!" the Chimchar said.

The Pikachu nodded.

I was getting confused. "Why do you want her to touch it?"

"Just wait and see..." he simply answered.

Lya walked in front of the statue, closed her eyes and touched it... Nothing happened.

Suddenly her feet started to shake and her expression changed. After a second her eyes shot open. She looked kind of drained.

After another second, her eyes closed again. After yet another second, she opened them again.

The Pikachu then held its paw against its head.

'What did just happen?'

I was getting worried.

'What happened to her?'

The Chimchar was getting worried too. "Are you okay?"

She responded with a nod. After a while, Lya removed her hand from her head and put it under her chin.

'What? Is she thinking about something?'

She then moved around the statue.

'Is she looking for something? Wait...'

"Hey, Ozu... can you give me the stone you found earlier." she asked.

'She can't possibly...'

He blinked.

"Sure, why do you want it?" the Chimchar asked, handing it to her.

She didn't response and simply put the red gemstone into a hollow in the Groudon's chest.

'What the hell? How did she figure it out? Just by touching the statue she was able to uncover its secret?'

As soon as Lya placed the stone in its designated place, the statues eyes started to glow.

Everybody jumped. The earth suddenly began to shake.

"Whoa! Step back everyone!" Ozu ordered. We did as told. The whole statue started to glow as we tried to create some distance from it.

We tried to run away, but the bright light engulfed us and everything went white.

When I regained my vision after a few seconds, I could see that all of the fog around us was gone.

My comrades slowly opened their eyes too. Everybody was stunned.

"Hey, hey! The fog is gone!" Corphish realized.

"The sky cleared... Wow, the sunlight is really bright." Ozu commented, looking at the sky. "Hey! Look!"

I looked up and found... I was speechless.

There was a huge goblet-shaped rock formation towering above us. Water poured down from the edges. That was where the waterfalls around us were coming from.

After a few moments of staring, Corphish spoke up again.

"Hey... I have no idea how you did this, Lya... But... Somone needs to report this to Chatot and the Guildmaster! I'll go, you three should see if you can find a way up there!" he said with excitement in his voice.

Then he rushed into the forest.

I walked up to my friends again. I wanted to ask Lya how she had figured out the secret, when we suddenly heard a voice.

"Chaw-haw-haw. Look what we have were." it said. I immediately knew who it was. I could tell by the foul smell in the air.

Team Skull walked out behind a near waterfall.

"We overheard your little conversation about the treasure... Well, we can't have you finding the treasure first. Team Skull will find it first!" Skuntank grinned at us.

I looked at my friends. Both of them grit their teeth and were shaking from anger. They really must've hated those guys.

"You jerks just came along to claim the treasure all for yourselves?!" I could clearly hear the anger in Ozu's voice.

"Ho-ho-ho, did you expect any less from us?" the Koffing asked with a grin.

"No way were going to let that happen." Lya growled.

"So you want to stop us? I seem to recall what happened last time..." Skuntank smirked. "I don't think that new friend of yours will be able to make a difference. Sorry, but were going to knock you out now."

'What is he planing?'

My friends looked nervous all of a sudden.

Just then the Koffing floated to his side and the Zubat backed off.

"Enough, talk! NOXIOUS G...!" He was stopped by my voice in his ear.

I had used Extremespeed to get behind the two poison-types.

"Sorry, can't let that happen." I said before knocking both of them out with two well aimed bones to the back of their heads.

The Skuntank fell to his side, and the Koffing simply dropped onto the ground.

I tilted my head and looked at the now terrified Zubat. His mouth was wide open and he was covered in sweat.

I gave him a menacing growl. And all of a sudden, he flew off into the woods.

'Coward...He just let his team members behind. I would go after him but we have to find a way to the lake up there.'

"Come on! Let's see if we can find a cave or something else that leads up there." I yelled to my friends.

They were stunned. Extremespeed really was an extreme move. Somehow it felt like I could control how much faster I would become. The more aura I used, the faster I would get.

My body felt drained and I was panting. Also, the left side of my back was hurting a bit. I must have moved in a bad way, putting bad pressure on my still recovering rib.

They walked up to me.

"Ri... That was unbelievable! Suddenly you were behind them and then..." Ozu couldn't believe how fast I just was. "Hey, are you okay? You are panting."

"I'm fine... Moving that fast eats up a lot of energy. I just need a few minutes" I replied. "Those jerks didn't expect that, that's for sure."

We continued our exploration. After moving along the base of the rock formation for a while, we found an entrance to a cave. Around the entrance were a lot of holes with steam coming out of them.

Ozu stocked us up on supplies before we headed into the cave.

* * *

Entering it, revealed that it was a mystery dungeon.

We mostly had to face off against fire and rock types. Bone Rush proofed to be very useful in this dungeon. My ground-type attack was super-effective against every wild pokemon we came across.

The only problem we had, was the temperature... Lya and I struggled to walk through the steaming hot dungeon. Ozu didn't have the slightest problem with the heat. He even enjoyed it. Well, he was a fire-type so it was only natural for him to like hot areas.

After a tiring hour, we came across a room that wasn't quite as hot as the rest of the dungeon. The weird "dungeon feeling" had faded. We must have come across a safe zone before the next part of the dungeon.

We decided to take a break and have a snack. Ozu pulled out three apples from his backpack. After taking the first bite out of my apple, I remembered that I wanted to ask them something before.

*Munch* "So... How did you manage to figure out the secret of the statue?" I asked again.

Just when the Pikachu opened its mouth a loud roar echoed through the cave.

I didn't know how to respond at first.

"What... was... that?" Ozu asked anxiously.

I finished eating my apple and got up.

"I guess that question just doesn't want to get answered..." I sighed.

"Let's find out!" I winked at the Chimchar.

Ozu responded with a forced smile. 'That roar must have scared him.'

"Okay, with somebody as strong as you on our side, there is nothing to be worried about." he complimented me. I gave him a smile in response.

* * *

My friends completed their meals and we went into the second part of the dungeon.

The heat was really getting on my nerves. The pokemon in this part were stronger too. Most of them were fully evolved, turning the puny Embers from their unevolved counterparts into powerful Flamethrowers.

Now and then we could hear the roar again. But with every cleared floor... It got louder.

After we finally finished the last floor, we found ourselves on top of the goblet-shaped rock. In the middle of the plateau was another rock formation. It almost seemed like a final barrier to keep intruders from finding the source of the water. Inside the huge stone wall were a few holes. From them, the water was flowing towards the edges of the platform. Fogbound Lake had to be behind those rock.

We went closer to it and found another opening. No water was coming out of it, so we assumed that it had to be the entrance to the lake.

As soon as we came close to it, we were stopped by a familiar noise. "GROOOUUUHH!" It was coming from the opening.

"Do you think that thing we heard earlier could be in there?" Ozu asked anxiously. He looked at me with a worried face. Suddenly he noticed something on my right hand.

"Hey, Ri! Look at your hand!" the Chimchar said, pointing at it with his finger.

The back of my paw was faintly glowing again. Just like in Limestone Cavern. The weird symbol was barely visible.

And just like in Limestone Cavern, I couldn't investigate it any further because of an interruption.

Another roar was coming out of the opening. This time we were able to hear footsteps too.

"Get ready, whatever it is, it's coming." I said, getting into my battle stance. My team members also got ready.

The footsteps became louder and louder. The earth began to shake.

We finally knew the source of the roaring, when a Groudon walked out from the shadows of the entrance.

"I AM THE GUARDIAN OF FOGBOUND LAKE!" it yelled at us as it came closer. "TURN BACK NOW, OR I WILL HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO FIGHT YOU!"

'Wow... I thought Uxie was the guardian of Fogbound Lake. If I want to get the Time Gear, I will have to defeat it and Uxie... Dammit, Ozu and Lya could get hurt in those fights. It's bad enough that I will have to trap them in time..."

"What is this thing!?" Ozu was getting terrified. I faced my friend.

"Hey, remember what you said earlier? I will handle this guy." I patted my hand onto his back.

"What?! Ri, you can't be serious!" Lya was shocked.

"Let me try to take him on alone at first. Only interfere if I'm really about to get knocked out." I ordered, stepping towards my new enemy.

'Another legendary... That Terrakion was just a Ditto, yes... But this time... It's the real deal.'

I knew myself that it was stupid to reject the help from my friends but somehow I wanted to defeat that Groudon in an one on one fight.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" the Groudon was surprised. "REJECTING THE HELP FROM YOUR COMRADES AND TAKING ME ON ALL BY YOURSELF?"

I put my paws together in front of me. "Come on, I want to see what a real legendary is capable of!" I yelled, pulling my paws outwards and creating a bone between them. I broke it in half and spun my two batons around, before getting into Grovyle's stance.

The Groudon let out a last roar, before our battle started.

I used Extremespeed and dashed behind it. I wanted to put a full force baton blow to its back, but when my attack was about to connect, the ground-type quickly turned around and brought up its left arm to block my bone.

I was stunned for a second. 'What the? How can something this massive be so fast?'

I used my legs to push myself away from it. When I landed a few feet away from it, I threw my bones at him. The legendary dodged both of them with ease.

It charged at me and tried to crush me with its right claw. I backstepped. Its massive red claw dug into the ground, making it shatter.

The Groudon quickly pulled its claw out and charged at me again. It jumped up into the air and tried to crush me under it with a Bodyslam.

Just then I tripped over a stone and fell backwards. My eyes shut tight, when I hit the back of my head on the ground. When I opened them again, everything was dark.

'Fu...'

My whole body was in pain as the massive groud-type crushed me. I could hear the terrified screams of my friends. When I heard the ground below me start to crack, I blacked out for a second.

...

The pain was horrible. My rib felt like it was broken for good this time. I slowly opened my eyes again. In front of me was the backside of a Groudon.

I forced my shaky legs to get up... Everything was blurry. My hearing was muffled. I had to cough... blood was coming out of my mouth. I looked at my body and saw that it was covered in bruises. The bandage on my chest was ripped apart.

'This...' I coughed up even more blood. 'Sucks.'

The fact that I probably had internal wounds and a broken rib didn't really matter to me. My mind was focused on the Groudon.

"We are not done!" I screamed at my enemy.

The legendary turned around again. It was surprised that I was still conscious.

My senses returned to normal. I looked behind the Groudon and saw my terrified friends.

"Ri! You are okay!" Ozu had tears in his eyes.

Lya was just staring at me. She seemed to be in shock.

"Hey, Groudon! Round two!" I said, as I opened my pouch and pulled out an Oran berry from it. I quickly put it in my mouth and swallowed it whole.

"AS YOU WISH!" it replied, turning around to face me again.

'Dammit, that attack nearly knocked me out for good. This thing is just to fast...' I had to change my strategy.

...

'Fast...' A plan was forming in my head. 'That would use up a lot of energy, but it's worth a try.'

I created an overcharged bone in my hand. I then threw it at the Groudon.

"TRYING THI..." Just then I appeared behind it and readied a kick.

I had used Extemespeed at the exact moment my bone left my hand. That way I was able to outrun my bone and lock the Groudon into a situation where it was guaranteed to be hit by one of my attacks. It only had to choose which one.

My plan had a little weak point though. The Groudon turned around and slashed its claw at me. I brought up my arms in front of me to block some of the damage.

I managed to hit it with an explosion to the face, but right when it went off, the Groudon sent me flying towards the edge of the plateau.

"Ri!" Ozu and Lya screamed in union as I flew over the edge.

Under me was now a drop of about hundred meters. The impact from the last blow didn't go by unnoticed. When I fully regained my awareness, I was already falling downwards. Next to me was a stone wall that was moving away from me with every second.

I had to act quick. I spun around my body and tried to use Aerial Ace. When the first airstream started to from around me, a huge amount of pain shot through my body. It was coming from my cracked rib.

I grit my teeth and looked down. That drop would kill me. When I was about to give up and accept it, a memory shot through my head.

_Everything was blurry. I was falling down a cliff. The next thing I saw, was that my vision turned towards the approaching ground. Then a blue paw entered my vision. A blue energy was forming around it. The collected energy then burst out and shot my body upwards. My vision turned towards the cliff again. Two blue paws were now grabbing onto the wall. Then it ended._

I did the same thing I saw in my vision and put my left paw out below me. I concentrated aura into it and let the blue energy shoot out from it. The force from my new attack flung my body back up and towards the wall.

I quickly turned around and grabbed onto it. I had to take a few breaths to calm down...

'Wow... that was close. Another memory where I'm a pokemon... Was I ever a human in the first place? Or... Maybe I was sent back further in time than Grovyle and had a few adventures without him. That would make sense. And then... when I tried to grab the first Time Gear... That was when I lost my memories! Ugh, I can't spend my time theorizing down here... I need to climb back up there and help my friends.'

With that I slowly made my way up the goblet-shaped rock again. The climb was exhausting. When I was nearly at the edge, I was able to hear the sounds of a battle.

'They must fight him right now... Come on, hurry up! They need me!'

When I finally reached the top again, I could see Groudon swoop down its claw at my now wounded and exhausted friends.

Its attack was about to hit, when a kick to the face made it stumble back a few steps.

The eyes of my friends were wide open when they saw me land between them and the ground-type.

"Did you miss me?" I said with a smirk.

"Ri!" My team members had tears in their eyes. They ran up to me and hugged me. I put my paws on their backs and returned the hug.

"W...We thought you were dead." Ozu sobbed.

Lya just buried her head in my shoulder.

"Come on, I need you two to finish this." I ended our hug and faced the Groudon again. The side of its face was red and swollen. My kick had left a mark. On the other side I could still see the black spots from my Bone Rush attack. It also had a few burns all over its body. Ozu and Lya must have managed to do some damage too.

My friends rubbed the tears out of their eyes and walked up to my side.

"YOU... I AM IMPRESSED." Groudon said. "BUT STILL, I WILL NOT LET YOU PASS!"

I dashed forward and jumped right above its head. Instinct told me to use my new move. I placed my paw on top of its head and shot out a high pressured stream of aura. My attack sent its head towards the ground.

Lya reacted immediately and continued our team attack with and Quickattack enhanced Thunderpunch uppercut. The Groudon was lifted from the ground a bit.

Ozu finished our combo with a Flamewheel to the legendary's stomach.

It was sent flying backwards and landed on its back. It let out one final roar before it stopped moving.

"We did it." Ozu couldn't believe it. "We... really beat him."

"Yeah..." Lya panted. "Thank you, Ri."

All of us were covered in bruises. I wiped off the little rest of blood that had come out of my mouth.

'What now... Behind that opening has to be the Time Gear. Maybe I can make them wait here for a while and go in without them... They would probably be able to escape the time stopping shockwave...'

Suddenly our defeated enemy began to glow in a bright light. When its whole body was white, it disappeared with a flash.

"It... disappeared?" Ozu asked. The three of us were getting confused now.

Then I heard another voice. It was strange somehow. I couldn't actually hear somebody say something, the words just popped up in my head.

"That was not Groudon..." the weird voice started. "It was merely an illusion I conjured."

We looked around. "Who said that?" Ozu asked.

"Like I said earlier, I'm the guardian of this lake." the voice continued. "You managed to impress me back there, but I still can't let you pass."

"Wait! We are not here to cause any trouble! We just came to see Fogbound Lake!" the Chimchar replied. "Please, believe us! We mean no harm!"

...

"...Well, okay. I believe you." the voice finished.

Just then a light formed in front of us. When the light faded, a pokemon stood in its place.

Its body was mostly white. It had two tails with something like two rubys at the end of them. On its head was something like a yellow cap that was a part of its body. On its forehead was another red gemstone. It eyes were closed.

"I am Uxie, the guardian of Fogbound Lake." the floating pokemon said.

"Uxie?!" Lya yelled out.

"Yes. I guard over something special, that is hidden here in Fogbound Lake." Uxie carried on.

'The Time Gear... Dammit, I'm already worn out and if the worst case would happen I would have to fight that psychic-type.'

"Come on, I will lead you to the lake." it said, before it floated into the opening behind it.

We followed the guardian. We had to walk through a short cave section. In the dark, I noticed the glow on my hand again. The closer we got to the exit, the brighter the symbol on the back of my paw got.

'What the hell is this? It looks like a gear... Last time it showed up was when I fought that Ditto... Wait... If Uxie is leading us to the Time Gear... In Limestone Cavern I was probably near a Time Gear too... Grovyle mentioned a special ability I have... could this symbol... Is that the Dimensional Scream? Okay, I better don't let anyone know about it. If I find Dusknoir in this time and he somehow finds out about it...'

I covered the glow on my right hand with my left one.

After we made it through the passage, we could finally see the fabled Fogbound Lake. It didn't feel that long, but the walk through the passageway took us probably an hour. It was nighttime all of a sudden.

In front of us was a huge body of water. Something at its bottom was luminating the water. A few Illumise and Volbeat were flying over the water making an even brighter light show. The sight was beautiful.

When Uxie lead us to the edge, I felt dizzy and light headed all of a sudden. 'What the?'

The psychic type faced us again.

"Behold, this is Fogbound Lake!" it said, holding its arms outwards.

My friends were stunned by the view. Sure, it was beautiful... But the thing that stood out for me, was the next thing I saw.

At the bottom of the lake... was a Time Gear. Uxie just mentioned it to my friends and told them to get closer and have a better look. I didn't hear anything from their conversation. I was focused on the glowing artifact. My heart started to race and I could feel a little sweat on my forehead.

'That's it! The Time Gear! But how am I supposed to get it? I would have to swim all the way down there... First of all, I need a distraction. That Uxie seems to be very strong. I wouldn't stand a chance in my current condition', just then my vision turned blurry. 'What is going on? That last battle can't have worn me out like this... My friends don't seem to have any trouble. Ugh...'

After my friends finished admiring the Time Gear, Uxie told them more about the lake. I decided to listen pay attention again.

"Many others have tried to trespass here... But I scared off most of them with my illusions." it explained while it created another illusion of Groudon next to us.

The illusion was transparent and flickered now and then. After all, it was just a presentation.

"There have been others before you, that were able to defeat it... But they were trespasser and therefore I took away their memories." Uxie carried on.

"Took away their memories?" Ozu asked curiously. He looked at Lya. She responded with a nod.

"Hey, we would like to ask you something!", the Chimchar faced the legendary again. "This is my partner Riley. She has lost her memory and claims that she was a human before that. Have you ever met a human before and took away its memory? Or maybe the memory of a Pikachu named Riley?"

The psychic type looked surprised. "A human?" Uxie stopped for a second. "I am sorry but the answer is...No. I haven't met a human before, nor did I take away the memories of a Pikachu."

I looked over to my now disappointed friends. "So, that eliminates that option, huh?"

'I guess I'll have to find another way to find out who she really is... Ugh... My head...'

"I should explain further... You see, I can only take the memories of Fogbound Lake. And also, I just lock them up in their subconsciousness. Destroying someone's complete memory takes forces which are much more powerful than mine are." it carried on.

"Well, do you have the ability to unlock memories as well? Both of my friends have a problem with them..." Ozu replied.

"I am sorry. I have no ability like that." the legendary answered with a sad voice.

Suddenly we heard a familiar voice. "What's that? A Time Gear! A Time Gear! Well too bad..." It was the voice of Wigglytuff, who was coming out of the passage.

"We can't take a Time Gear." he said walking up to the water.

Everybody gave him a surprised look.

"Wow! Fantastic" he exclaimed, staring into the lake.

"Uhm... who is this?" Uxie asked.

"That's our guildmaster." Ozu replied.

The fairy-type faced the floating guardian of the lake. "Glad, to meet you friend!" he said, giving him a smile.

"Friend! Friend! Friend!" he chanted.

He kept up his little song and even continued it when he faced the flickering illusion of the fierce Groudon.

I sweatdropped. 'He can't be serious.'

Wigglytuff walked back to the edge of the lake. "Look at this amazing view."

Just then the rest of the guild entered the scene. They were a little shocked when they first saw the image of Groudon, but Uxie quickly calmed them down.

There was a little commotion before everyone lined up to admire the lake. Ozu, Lya and I were standing right at the edge of the water. The rest of the guild was behind us.

'I need a distraction...Ugh!' a wave of weakness shot through my body. I started to pant. '... Fast.'

Suddenly a huge fountain of water shot out of the middle of the lake. The Volbeat and Illumise flew around it in circles, making an even more beautiful scene.

The whole guild was stunned. 'This is my chance...'

I looked at my friends and saw that their eyes were locked onto the light show.

'Come on!...Ugh, I can't even think straight anymore. I need to do something.'

I looked at Ozu. An idea was starting to form in my head. 'Can I really do this?'

I patted him on the shoulder. I held my hand up to my mouth, indicating that I wanted to whisper something to him. He looked at me and brought his head closer to mine.

"This..view...sure is romantic...huh?" I panted, winking at him. A small pink heart formed in front of my eye and flew into his face. It shattered and he started to blush.

'Okay... now to step two.' I wanted to make it look like he tried to kiss me.

The next thing was unexpected. Suddenly the blushing Chimchar really brought his head towards my face and pushed his lips against mine.

I was shocked.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, pushing him away from me and into the crowd.

The impact with the ground lifted my influence on him. He looked like he didn't even know what just happened.

"What is wrong with you?" I had to take a breath before I could continue. "He just kissed me all of a sudden!"

My vision was even blurrier than before. Just pushing him off me made my legs shaky. 'Maybe... because of... the blood...'

The eyes of every Pokemon locked onto my tricked friend.

Now was my chance... There was no going back.

As soon as I tried to turn around and jump into the lake... My legs gave up on me and my vision wandered towards the ground.

I didn't even feel the impact. I blacked out mid fall.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 6**


	7. Trouble from the past

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Trouble from the past  
**

* * *

**BGM: Id (Darkness) - Fire Emblem Awakening**

Everything was cold...and dark. My body somehow felt non existant.

_Am I dreaming?_

My thoughts echoed into the darkness around me.

_What the hell? Where am I?_

I didn't know how, but I suddenly felt another presence. The feeling was... odd. In front of me was pure darkness, but somehow I knew that somebody else was here with me.

_...hat...av...y...u...t...en...y...self...i...to...ag...n..._

_Hello? Who's there?_

_...u...d...t...ve...r...me...b...m...heh...pa...h...ic..._

_I can't understand you!_

I suddenly felt the presence move away from me.

_No! Please, wait!_

Then it was gone.

* * *

I was alone again. I didn't even know if I was conscious or not. Was I dead? Had the wounds from the fight with Groudon finished me off?

Time didn't seem to exist in this place either... How long had I been in here? Hours? Days? Years? I didn't know. I was floating through this endless limbo until...

The feeling of nothingness faded as the void around me slowly revealed a new scenery. The awareness of my body came back with it. It felt like I was dreaming.

_I was in a forest. I'm looked familiar somehow. There was something laying on the ground. I bent down to pick it up. Something about it was odd. The shape of the object was not identifiable, a black fog was surrounding it. The black fog was familiar to me too. I had seen it in some of my previous memory shreds. The earth began to shake all of a sudden. A loud noise was coming from behind me. I turned around and found a wave of darkness coming my direction. My body didn't move. The wave soon reached me and as soon as it touched me, everything went black._

**Stop music  
**

* * *

"Aaah!" I yelled as my eyes shot open. My whole body jumped and responded with pain. My heart felt like it would burst any second and my breath was trembling.

My body calmed down after a while and my breathing returned to normal. I lifted myself up to inspect my surroundings. Moving was painful, but I had to know where I was.

I was laying in a bed. Looking around revealed that I was in the infirmary of the guild again. To my right was a little table. a cup of water and a bowl with two apples were on top of it.

Just when I saw them my stomach began to growl. I took one apple out of the bowl and bit down on it. In a matter of seconds, only its core was left in my paw. My arm was covered in bandages. I held up the blanket that was laying on top of me and inspected the rest of my body. My chest and legs were covered in bandages aswell.

I put the core back into the bowl and grabbed the cup of water. I quickly gulped it down and placed it back on the table. There was nobody else in the room, so I had time for myself. There was a window above my bed. Moonlight was shining through it. The other guild members were probably asleep right now.

I sighed.

'Dammit. What happened back there? Why did I pass out like that?' I assumed that it was because of Groudon's Bodyslam, but I felt fine when I climbed up to the lake again, making the whole situation feel odd to me.

My mission was a failure. I wasn't able to collect the Time Gear. Just because my stupid body gave up on me. And that when I was right in front of it.

'And... oh no. Ozu... Lya... Dammit! I shouldn't have done that to them.' I regretted my last action. I knew that it was for the better good, but my plan had failed.

'How am I supposed to explain it to them? God dammit!' I cursed in my head. 'What if somebody saw what I did to Ozu?'

Suddenly the door opened. The silhouette of a Pikachu was standing in the doorway. Lya walked into the room and approached my bed.

"Hello, Ri." she said coldly. I gulped. There was something terrifying in her eyes.

"You have been out for a few days. Everybody was really worried about you." she explained. "Your scream woke me up, so I came to check on you."

"H-Hi, Lya." I greeted her with a shaky voice. "What happened?"

"Well, everybody was admiring the view, when you suddenly pushed Ozu on the ground and yelled something about him trying to kiss you." she replied. "The next thing everybody saw, was you passed out on the ground."

"Yeah, I remember that but... Did you carry me all the way back to the guild?" I asked.

"Yes, we had to carry you all the way back here. We couldn't just let our friend lay there, could we?"the Pikachu empathized on "friend". Her tone wasn't getting any warmer. What was wrong with her?

'Wait? Did she notice?' I was getting tensed up.

"Uhm... Thank you. I have no idea what happened there. I just felt weak and light-headed all of a sudden." I replied.

"No problem... It's what friends are there for." Lya empathized on the word "friends" again.

Suddenly she grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to her. The quick motion made my back hurt a little.

"Well, now that you know a few things about friends, let me tell you what they don't do." the look in her eyes turned threatening. I was actually getting scared of her.

'She knows.' Sweat was starting to form on my forehead.

"First of all, friends don't attack each other with Attract and let it look like it was the other ones fault after that!" she yelled. "Everybody is looking at Ozu like he is some kind of pervert ever since you did that to him!"

Her grip on my arm was getting tighter and she pulled my face directly in front of hers. The result was more pain on my back.

"But that's not what really makes me mad." Lya closed her eyes for a second.

When she opened them again, I was shocked. Her eyes were giving me a look, I would never forget again. A look of hate.

"You lied to me." her voice was overflowing with anger.

"You said, you weren't even interested in him!" her voice was slowly returning to its coldness from before.

I was speechless. My mouth was wide open, but I couldn't get it to bring out any words.

Suddenly she released her grip on me and brought her arm up to her head. She looked dizzy and absent. Her eyes shot tight and she took a step back.

After a few seconds, her expression turned normal and she opened her eyes again.

She looked at me again. She didn't speak. An awkward silence was hanging in the room. I took the opportunity to finally speak up again.

"Lya... I... I'm sorry. I swear to you, I had no idea I could use Attract. I don't even remember how I used it. It just happened." I lied. "And... I will tell you again. I see Ozu only as a friend."

She didn't respond for a few second before she said something I would never have expected.

...

"I see, you didn't lie after all." her voice was filled with emotion again. It sounded relieved somehow.

"What?" I asked. She perplexed me with those last words.

"I have seen you and your friend. Your friend was a little foggy, but he was giving you a blanket and when you touched his hand you started to blush. I guess you really have a crush on him." she answered with a giggle.

"What the...?!"

I was speechless. When I fully realized what she just said, my cheeks responded by getting hot and red again.

"I'm sorry for getting rough on you just now, but I thought that you lied to me and somehow that made my blood boil." she apologized.

"H... How did you...?" my mind couldn't process how she could have known about it.

"I have this special ability... When I touch something or somebody, I get visions sometimes. They show me the past or the future of the them." she answered. "That way I figured out the secret of the statue too."

I didn't think further about it. I was just happy that she didn't try to kill me anymore.

"But, you are not forgiven yet." she continued. "You still have to tell everyone that it was your fault, Ozu acted like that."

"Yea, sure! Again, I'm really sorry." I replied.

"I'm not the person you should apologize to." With those words she walked back to the doorway. Her voice turned cold again.

"If I find out that you did know Attract, before... Well, let's just hope I won't.", she said, closing the door. Somehow those words made a shiver run down my spine.

I gulped again. 'I hope so, too.' I thought, wiping the sweat off my forehead.

I placed my head on my pillow and pulled my blanket back over my body.

'That's what I get for tricking my friends... Friends. I have only known them for a couple of days now. But I trust them and they trust... trusted me... What am I supposed to do now? I... will try to convince them. I will gain their trust again and then I will tell them the truth. And then, we will look for Grovyle and safe the world.'

I closed my eyes and tried to get some rest.

* * *

UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!

Loudred's wake up call even reached into the infirmary. It surprised me that it didn't wake me up earlier. Lya mentioned that I had been here for a couple of days.

I threw the blanket off my body and jumped onto the ground. Bad idea. My back felt like it was on fire. I had to hold onto the table next to the bed, in order to keep me from falling. This time my rib had to be broken. Being crushed under a massive Groudon can't be healthy for an already injured bone.

A little basket full of Sitrus berries under the table caught my attention. I bent down, resulting in another wave of pain and grabbed two berries out of it.

Just like last time, my pain faded away, after I had consumed them.

Now that I felt better, I made my way towards the main room. The other guild members were probably just beginning with the morning-briefing.

I opened the door of the infirmary and was greeted by the looks of a dozen pokemon.

Not knowing how to respond I simply walked over to my team members. I wanted to talk to them, but their attention was focused on Chatot.

He held his morning speech like nothing had happened.

"HURRAY!" everybody cheered.

I assumed that everybody would go off and do missions or something but they simply stood where they were and looked at me.

"Uhm... Hello." I spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "First of all... Ozu, I'm sorry."

The Chimchar responded with an understanding look.

"Everybody! Ozu didn't have anything to do with what happened at the lake!" I explained. "I don't know how but I used Attract on him by mistake."

I could hear a lot of mumbling in the crowd.

Ozu walked right in front of me and put his hand onto my right shoulder.

"Don't mention it. I don't even remember what exactly happened anymore. It was an accident." he said, giving me a smile.

I was stunned. He just forgave me like nothing had even happened.

"Ozu... I..." I didn't know what to say.

"Hey, just forget about it." he said, walking back to his place.

I faced the other guild members again.

"And secondly... Thank all of you for carrying me back to the guild..." I continued. "I'm sorry... I just passed out and..."

Chimecho cut me off. "There is no need to be sorry. When Ozu and Lya told me what happened, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. You should be happy that you are still alive."

I gave her an confused look. 'What? Was I really in that bad shape?'

"I want you to come into the infirmary with me, after everybody left for their jobs." she continued.

"O... okay." I replied, now being worried.

Chatot spoke up again. "Ahem... Thank you, Ri. There has been some confusion among the guild members because of this incident. As Chimecho said before, you will have to come with her for a medical check. Your team members will go after their missions as usual. If you are fit enough to leave the guild, you are allowed to take a look around treasure town and wait for your friends to return. After your full recovery, they will give you an introduction of their daily routines."

I responded with a nod.

"Okay, everyone! Get back to your missions." he finished.

The other guild members soon had left the room.

Ozu approached me. "We will be back soon... I hope Chimecho has some good news for you." he said.

I looked at Lya. She was just giving me a smile... The meaning behind it was clear to me. This Pikachu would watch my every move from now on.

"Uhm... Thank you. How long will you be gone?" I asked.

"We will only do one mission today. I guess six to eight hours. Depends on the mission." Ozu replied.

"Good luck, then." I said.

"See you later!" they answered in union, walking up to the ladder.

* * *

I faced Chimecho again. She led me into the infirmary and ordered me to sit down on a chair.

"Is something wrong with me?" I asked nervously.

"You had fatal, internal injuries. A few organs were squeezed and your rib was broken for good this time." the psychic-type explained. "Luckily you have eaten an Oran berry right after it happened. It mended most of the tears in your organs. If you had not taken it, you probably would have bled out from inside. I am surprised that you were still able to climb up to your friends again and even continue to fight after that."

"So if that Oran berry healed most of my wounds... Why did you tell me that I was almost dead?" I asked, getting confused.

"Well, I still had to use Heal Pulse on you to completely heal the damage. But that was not the reason... Your body was almost completely out of aura." she answered with a serious expression.

"What do you mean?" I had no idea what aura had to do with my health.

Chimecho sighed. "Every living being has a certain life-force flowing through it. Riolu and Lucario have a special connection with that life-force. They are able to manipulate it like no other species is. But that connection has its drawbacks too... If one of them runs completely out of aura... They die." she kept up her serious tone.

I gulped in response.

"Okay, I get it..." I replied. I was a mystery to me, how I could have lost so much aura.

"But you should have already known tha..." she stopped for a second. "Um, sorry. I have forgotten about your amnesia."

"Don't mention it... Is there something else?" I asked.

"I will do one more check on you to see if your aura has fully recovered." Chimecho's eyes started glowing again.

A weird sensation ran through my body.

"Okay... Aha... All of your internal injuries have fully closed up and your rib has already mended again." she explained.

'What? Her psychic powers let her diagnose any illness and injury just like that?'

Suddenly the bandages around my arms and legs unwrapped and levitated into a nearby basket.

"Most of your cuts and bruises are also completely healed." she continued.

"Aura wise... " her expression turned confused all of a sudden.

"There is an anomaly. It feels like a compressed hull of aura is surrounding your body. I haven't seen anything like it before... I can't exactly feel how much aura it is, but if I look at the density, I would say it is a lot." She turned around and floated to a little desk that was standing in the corner of the room.

The Chimecho used her psychic powers to lift up a piece of paper that was laying on it.

The psychic-type floated back to me, putting the paper right in front of me.

"Here, take this map of Treasure Town..." she said. I thanked her and grabbed it.

"For now, you are allowed to leave the guild. I know somebody who knows a little more about aura than me... Look for Marowak's Dojo, maybe he can help you." she explained. "Oh, and don't dare to think about training there. It will take another three days before I can allow you to put that much stress on your body."

"Okay. Thank you, Chimecho." I turned around an headed towards the door.

* * *

I walked back into the main room of the guild. Croagunk was sitting in front of his caldron again. When he noticed me, he gave me the same soul piercing stare I had received last time. 'What is wrong with this guy?'

Creeped out, and a little scared, I walked past him and climbed up the ladder to the first floor of the guild.

To my right stood two pokemon, looking at a bulletin board. I recognized them as Bidoof and Sunflora.

I walked over to them, giving them a greet. I was curious, what those boards were all about.

"Oh! Hi there, Ri!" Sunflora greeted happily. "Are you okay again? It has been five days since we were at the lake."

'Five days? No wonder, I was so hungry and thirsty when I woke up...'

"Yes, I should be completely fit in three days. Can you tell me what those boards are all about?" I asked , looking at the board.

It was a normal wooden board with a lot of letters pinned onto it. Footprint runes were inscribed on the papers.

"Well, those are the missions we do everyday. Many pokemon need help nowadays and the exploration teams are happy to do so." she explained. "They send their problems to the guilds and outposts and explorers can take on those missions then."

"Oh, so all of those letters are missions from pokemon that need help." I combined.

"Correct!" she confirmed with a smile.

I examined a few of them. 'Friend got lost while exploring... Lost my family treasure, please help!... Need Escort...'

"Ah, pretty straight forward." I commented after reading a few of them.

"And after we finish them, we get rewarded with money and sometimes even more than that!" she continued.

"Oh, so what kind of job are you doing today?" I asked.

"Well, still haven't decided yet. At first we wanted to take out an outlaw, but the jobs today are really hard." the grass-type answered.

"Outlaws?" I was getting even more curious.

"Yes, there are many bandits and thieves out there. Another job of the exploration teams is to help Magnezone's police forces to capture these outlaws. The wanted posters are on the other board." she explained, pointing at the other bulletin board in the room.

The three of us walked over to it. There were a few posters pinned onto the board. Each one of them had a little drawing of the wanted outlaw on them.

One of them caught my attention. At the bottom left corner of the board was a poster with a question mark on it.

Sunflora noticed me examining it and decided to tell me the story behind it.

"Oh! This mission is about the disappearence of the timegear in Treeshroud Forest. Somebody has stolen it." she explained.

I was frozen for a second. I looked at the writing under the question mark.

'Timegear at Threeshroud Forest has been stolen. The idendity of the thief is still unknown. Any information about suspicious behavior around the location of other timegears should be given to Magnezone immediately.'

'Okay... They have no idea who it was. Also, they still don't know that the timegear in Limestone Cavern is gone too. I hope it stays that way.'

I faced the grass-type again. "Well, I'm going to check out the town now. Good luck on your mission!"

I walked past Sunflora and Bidoof, heading for the ladder.

"Okay... Bye!" they said in union, walking back to the other board.

* * *

I left the guild and made my way to the crossroad I had seen a few days ago. Spinda's café was tempting, but I decided to check it out after my visit of Marowak's dojo.

This time I took the right path, which was leading to treasure town.

After walking for a while, I found myself at the main square of the town. There were several tents and market stalls around me. A few pokemon were gathered all around the town. I assumed that most of them were explorers, because of their equipment. Most of them wore scarfs with badges pinned onto them.

I pulled out the map, Chimecho gave me. It was very detailed. The tents were exaclty placed where they were in reality.

The name of every shop and facility was written below them.

I looked around. There was the Duskull Bank, Electrivire's Link-Shop, Chancey's Daycare and Marowak's Dojo.

I could see some other markets and buildings in the distance. There was a little bridge, leading to another part of town.

The map told me that Kecleon's Shop, Kangashkan's Storage and Xatu's Appraisal could be found there.

'Kecleon's Shop?... Oh no.' I remembered what I had done to a Kecleon a couple of days ago. 'Please, don't be the same guy.'

I pushed the thought to the back of my head and headed towards the dojo.

Standing in front of it, I examined the buildings features. It was mainly made out of rocks. A huge Marowak skull was hanging above the entrance. The roof was decorated with several feathers. Though I had never seen feathers this big before. 'That bird must've been huge.'

I knocked onto the wooden door, leading into the building. Almost immediately, the door shot open, nearly hitting me in the face.

An excited looking Marowak was now in front me.

"A visitor! Hello, and welcome to Marowak's Dojo!" its voice was male.

"Please come in!" he said, leading me through the doorway.

The inside of the dojo looked completely different from the outside. It had a wooden floor and walls. In the middle of the room was a little field, with white lines on it. A battlefield. On the other side of the room was a pair of stairs leading to the next floor. I guessed that Marowak's living quarters were up there. In one corner of the room, stood a few wooden dummies and a couple of sandbags were hanging from the ceiling.

All of it seemed familiar somehow. The field, the dummies... I had seen this whole scenery somewhere before.

My head began to hurt, all of a sudden. Pictures of memories shot through my head.

_A strange building was in front of me. A had a wooden framework with white walls between the boards. It looked like your stereotypical dojo. My vision floated closer to it. Around me, other people were walking in the same direction. They were humans. It had a sign with a name over the entrance but when my vision turned onto it, everything began to flicker and with that, the scenery changed._

_Another building. This time I was already inside it. A courtyard was in front of me. Two battlefields were drawn onto the ground and next to them stood a few training dummies. My vision turned around me and revealed the all to well known black flickering smoke from my other visions. When my whole vision was occupied again, the memory ended.  
_

I had to take a breath after I was back in reality.

'Humans... Other humans... That means, I really am a human. A dojo... Does that mean that I trained Martial Arts when I was human?... Well, I guess that explains why I had no problem when I fought those Electrike... Maybe that is also why I want to match me with every strong pokemon I come across.'_  
_

"Hey! Riolu, are you okay?" Marowak asked concerned. "You looked absent for a second..."

"Huh? Yes. Just felt dizzy for a moment." I replied. "Oh, and call me Ri."

"So what brings you to my dojo? Do you want to work on your attacks? Stamina training? Work-out?" the ground-type's eyes were shining brightly and he was getting closer to me with every question.

I had to push him away when his skull was almost in my face.

"I would love to try out all of that, but I promised Chimecho to keep it easy for the next three days." I explained, pointing at the bandage on my chest.

He turned sad, when he understood that I could not train with him. Almost depressed.

"Chimecho? Oh, so you are with the guild." Marowak's expression turned normal again. "So, what brings you here then?"

"Well... Chimecho mentioned that there is an anomaly in my aura. She said that you could tell me more about it." I answered.

"Aura? Yes, I can help you with that." he said, closing his eyes.

He then held up his hand and pointed it towards my direction. It began to emit a faint blue glow.

"Well, there is nothing wrong with..." the ground-type stopped all of sudden. His eyes shot open and were now fixed on me. His mouth was wide open and overall he looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"... A... Aura Garment." he stuttered, taking a step back.

"What do you mean?" I was a little startled by his weird behavior.

It took Marowak a minute before he calmed down again.

"First of all... Your aura is a little different from other Riolu I have met before, but otherwise it's completely normal." he explained. "And what Chimecho assumed to be an anomaly, was just your Aura Garment."

"And what is that thing?" I asked, still not having an idea what he meant.

"Wait... You don't know what Aura Garment is?" Marowak replied, now looking confused. "It is a secret technique that only a few of your species are able to learn. Through a thin layer of dense aura around the user, it increases the capacity of usable aura. Through meditation and other training methods the user has to put the maintaining of the "garment" into his subconsciousness. After the training, keeping up the technique is like breathing."

'So that's why I have so much aura...'

"But, you should already know that.", he continued.

"Uhm... I have amnesia, so... I don't." I replied.

"Oh, sorry. Amnesia, huh? When did you lose your memory?" he asked with a concerned look.

"Well, everything before I joined the guild is really foggy..." I lied.

"That's too bad. But from you knowing Aura Garment, we can assume that you spent at least a few months on learning it." he replied with a smile.

'A few months? At which point in time did I come out from the time travel? And if it really was that long before Grovyle... Then why did I wait so long before looking for the Time Gears?'

"Thank you... And about the training and work-out... Well, I will visit you again when I'm fit again. I would love to work on my moves." I said, smiling at him.

"No,no,no! I have to thank you. You don't come across somebody who is able to use such a high-level technique!" he replied, returning my smile. "To think that Aura Garment is still in your subconsciousness after loosing your memories is amazing. I can't wait to see your other abilities!"

"Hehe, you are not going to be disappointed." I said with a grin. 'Maybe he can tell me more about my other attacks, too.'

I said goodbye to him and headed towards the door. I left the building and walked back to he main square.

* * *

'What now? Should I head towards the café immediately or take a look at the other part of the town?' I debated in my head.

'Hmm... Maybe I should check out Kecleon's Shop... If the guy I met in the jungle really is there... I better make contact with him alone. I bet that Lya and Ozu will show me the rest of the town someday and if Lya is present when that Keckleon recognizes me...'

With that I headed towards the bridge leading to the other part of Treasure Town. After walking over the small river flowing through the town, I found a tent to my right. It looked like a Keckleon and in front of it was a long table with several goods on it.

I approached the shop and found two Kecleon standing behind the table. One was green, like the one I had seen before and the other one was purple. They were checking on a couple of boxes. 'Probably a new shipment.'

When they noticed my presence they turned around.

"Hello! Welcome to Kecleon's Shop!" they said in union. "How can we help you?"

My eyes were fixed on the green one. It looked exactly like the Kecleon I had met several days ago. 'Dammit.'

"Uhm... I'm new to town and joined the guild a couple of days ago. I have three days off and they allowed me to check out the town." I explained, still looking at the green chameleon.

"Oh, If you are new to the guild, then let me explain what wares you can expect to buy from us." the purple Kecleon replied.

The other one was giving me a weird look. 'It's him...'

"My brother here sells most of the items that are necessary for every explorer! Berries, Seeds, Gummies and other equipment." he continued. "And I'm the right person if you are looking for any kind of orb."

I nodded in response.

"Hey, I have seen you before." the green one suddenly spoke up.

Sweat was forming on my forehead. 'What am I supposed to do now? Tell him the truth and say that I'm sorry? ...Wait, if I come back here with Lya and he talks about it again... Dammit! I have to lie again.'

"Really? This is my first time I visit the town and I don't remember seeing you before." I replied, trying not to sound nervous.

"Don't try to fool me again, you look exactly like the Riolu that tricked me at Southern Jungle." he continued. 'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'

"What?! This is her?" the purple one threw in.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I haven't been there before... I think." I said, rubbing my chin.

"You think? What are you talking about?" the Kecleon was getting annoyed.

"I have amnesia. I woke up at the guild a couple of days ago... The last thing I remembered was being hit by a Warp Orb." I explained. "By the way, what am I supposed to have done to you anyway?"

"That Riolu used Attract on me to get a cheaper price for one of my Wondermaps." the normal-type answered angrily.

"Really? Are you really sure that it was a Riolu and not another Pokemon? Most of my species live in the mountains and not in the jungle." I replied.

"Of course I'm sure that it was a Riolu! Don't try to blame another Pokemon." he was getting really angry now. 'Dammit! He's convinced that it was me. What now? Hmm... I will keep going with the amnesia.'

"Uhm... Sorry. Actually, it could have been me." I said, looking at the ground. "I do know Attract and... To think that I could have done something like that just..."

"I knew it!" the green Kecleon yelled. "Wretched thief! I should call Magnezone immediately."

"Brother! Don't be like that.", the purple one tried to calm down his brother. "She doesn't look like a bad Pokemon. It isn't even proven that she is the same Riolu. She doesn't even know if she really did it and is still sorry. Also, that Riolu didn't steal your Wondermap it paid you seven hundred Poke, remember?"

I raised my head again.

"I know, but..." the green chameleon didn't know what it should say.

"And our Wondermaps normally cost five hundred... Just because you weren't at the shop, doesn't mean that you can charge an extra fee." the purple one continued.

'FIVE HUNDRED!? And he doubled the price just because he was traveling at that time?! Greedy bastard!' I raged in my head. But on the outside I still tried to look as sorry as possible.

"Okay, okay, I get it... Somehow I deserved it." the green one admitted.

"Uhm... Am I in trouble now?" I asked, getting their attention again.

"Hey, you don't even remember doing it... If it was really you in the first place. And if it was you... Well, let's just forget about the whole incident and start new." the purple one offered happily. 'Whew! That went better than I expected.'

"Thank you! I'm Ri, by the way." I replied, smiling at them.

"I'm Porpo and this is my little brother Verd" Porpo said, pointing at his pointing brother.

"Now that we handled that situation, let's get back to business! Can I interest you in some of our wares?" he carried on.

"Maybe next time... I will probably come back with my friends then. Bye!" I said, turning towards the bridge.

"See, ya!" they replied.

* * *

Back at the middle part of town, I debated where to head next. 'Hmm... Now that that is out of the way, what next? Go back to the guild? The cafe?'

Feeling a little thirsty, I decided to finally check out the café.

I went back to the crossroad. When I wanted to head towards the stairs, leading into the shop, I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey, that's the Riolu that beat up my cousin!" a male voice yelled.

When I turned around, I saw a Manetric and a Darumaka in front of me.

"You still have some of the smell from my tribe on you!" the Manetric continued. 'What the?'

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm the guy who's going to beat you up, for beating up his little cousin." the electric-type growled at me.

"I'm sorry, but you got the wrong girl..." I replied, trying to avoid a fight.

"Don't try to deny it! It's faint, but the smell is there!" the Manetric was persistent. 'It's been a couple of weeks since I fought those Electrike. How can I still have their scent on me?'

"Okay, okay... I fought some Electrike a while ago, but I swear that they attacked first!" I admitted.

"There we go... My cousin also told me that you weren't alone back then. Where is that Grov..."

He gasped when I was suddenly right in front of his face. I was still hurt, but already able to use Extremespeed again. It resulted in a little stinging on my back but I ignored it.

"Don't, talk about him. You can let out your stupid revenge on me but, don't you ever mention him again." I said coldly, staring directly into his eyes.

He was getting terrified by my sudden change of attitude. Taking a step back, his aggressive expression was blown away.

"Whoa, don't go all crazy on me like that!" he responded, taking another step back. "You are injured, so I will let you get away with it this time. But if you ever hurt somebody from my family again, I will really make you pay. Come on, Mak! We're leaving."

"Yessir!" the fire-type replied.

And with that they walked past me and headed out of treasure town.

I looked at them, until they finally disappeared behind the horizon.

'Whew... That was close!' A sigh of relief escaped my mouth.

* * *

I was finally able to check out the café after so many complications.

Walking down the staircase revealed a big room with wooden floor and walls. A few tables and seats were scattered around the room and at the other side were two bars. The only other Pokemon inside the room were a Spinda, a Wynaut and a female Wobbuffet. I could tell by the red lipstick around it's mouth.

"Oh, a guest!" the Spinda said when I walked into the room. It sounded male. "I haven't seen you here before... New to town?"

"Well, my name is Ri and I joined the guild a couple of days ago." I explained.

"Oh, you are an explorer then! Can't go your missions because of your injury?" he asked, pointing at my bandage.

"Yes, I have to rest for the next three days." I answered.

"You can come to my café whenever you want! We offer a lot of different food and special shakes." the Spinda replied.

"Thank you! Uhm... I feel kind of thirsty. What drinks do you offer?" I asked.

The Spinda responded by leading me to the right bar. A lot of berries and other ingredients were placed on a table behind the bar.

"Well, you are injured, so I would recommend an Oran Shake." he said, picking up a few Oran berries from the table.

In a matter of seconds, a blue drink with ice in it was placed in front of me.

"Here, the first one is for free!" the normal-type said happily. When he said "free", I remembered that I didn't have any money with me in the first place. 'Lucky me.'

"Thanks a lot!" I said, grabbing the glass. I examined the blue liquid for a second before I gulped it down.

It was amazing. It had the sweetness and sourness from the Oran berry juice, but the ice gave it a refreshing flavour.

"That was great." I said, putting the glass back.

"So what do plan on doing in those next three days? As I said before, you can spend your time here whenever you want." the Spinda tried to keep up our conversation.

"I don't know yet... I would love to train at Marowak's Dojo, but..." I answered.

"Oh, you are a fighting-type... It's only natural for you to like training." he replied. "Well, there are no other customers right now, so if you really like to learn new moves, I can show you a little trick of mine."

"A trick?" I was getting curious. 'Does he want to teach me a new move or something?'

"You don't have to use physical training to learn it, so it won't hinder your body from healing." he continued. "Ever heard of Own Tempo?"

"Own Tempo?" I had heard that name somewhere before.

"Yes, it's a special ability that my species has. We use it subconsciously all the time, but you could probably use it too if you concentrated on it. It makes it impossible for you to get confused." Spinda explained.

"Confused?" I remembered the time when I had stepped onto a spinning trap and Grovyle had to stop me from walking onto it again.

"Yes, if you know that your enemy is using moves that are able to confuse you, just use the technique and they won't be able to affect you. It's a nice defensive ability to have." he continued. "Those attack overload your brain with information, making it hard for you to focus. By using Own Tempo, you cut down you brain activity before the moves hit you, so your brain will be able to process them without mixing up anything."

"That's awesome!" I replied, getting excited to learn this new technique.

Spinda proceed by teaching me the basic concept of using the move. I had to keep calm, while he tried to distract in every way possible.

We kept on training for about three hours. However, we couldn't continue because the explorers which were on their missions all day, were coming back.

After a couple of minutes the café was crowded with many other pokemon, so I decided to head back to the guild. It was getting a little too loud for me in there.

I said good-bye to Spinda and left the café.

* * *

Outside again I walked up the stairs in front of the guild again. When I was in front of the tent, a wooden grate was blocking the entrance. When I walked over the grid on the ground, a voice surprised me.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" a familiar voice yelled from below me. It sounded like Diglett.

"WHO'S FOOTPRINT IS IT?!" a voice so loud, that it only could have been Loudred, yelled.

"It's a Riolu's footprint! I think it's Ri!" Diglett answered.

"RI? OKAY, I WILL OPEN THE GATE!" Loudred replied.

And just as he said it, the grate in in front of me opened. 'Aaah, now I understand what this hole is there for. They use it to identify every visitor.'

I entered the guild and climbed down to the second floor. I walked into the sleeping quarters and opened the door to my teams room.

The third bed was still there. On the little table that was in the corner of the room stood a few items. I approached it to check them out.

It was my pouch and a few other items. A red scarf, another small bag I haven't seen before and a badge. The badge looked like an egg with a gemstone in the middle. The sides were decorated with little wings.

I grabbed my pouch and attached it to my leg.

Just then I heard Loudred's voice, coming from the main room.

"WHO'S FOOTPRINT IS IT?!" he yelled again. "OZU AND LYA? OKAY, I'LL OPEN THE GATE!"

'Oh, they are back. Should I go out and greet them or just wait for them to come to our room?'

I decided to greet them and headed back to the main hall. They were just climbing down the stairs, when I came out of the hallway.

"Hi!" I said, walking up to them.

"Hello, Ri!" they replied with a smile.

"So, how was your mission?" I asked curiously.

"It was great! We will tell, you everything about it later. I want to show you something first." Ozu replied, leading me back to our room.

They put most of their equipment on the ground and walked to the table.

Ozu picked up the red scarf and pouch and handed them over to me. "Here, those are for you!" he said with a smile.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked a little confused now.

"Well, you are a offical member of our team, so you need proper equipment." he replied with a smile. "Just see it as a little gift from your friends!"

'He really isn't mad at me. But why?'

"Ozu... I... don't know if I can accept those presents." I said looking at the ground.

"Sure you can! Without you, we wouldn't have stood a chance against that Groudon! You are an important asset to our team!" he was persistent. "I already told you before, that you can forget what happened afterwards. It never happened, okay?"

"Ri, just take them." Lya threw in.

I sighed and grabbed them. I then proceeded by attaching the new pouch on the back of my hip. I used the same method Lya was using with hers. At first I wanted to bind the scarf around my neck, but I suddenly decided to wrap it around my right upper arm. I placed it right below my shoulder. Two long strips of cloth were hanging down the backside of my arm. The feeling was familiar somehow.

"You look like a real explorer now!" Ozu cheered. "All that it left now, is you badge."

He then turned around and grabbed the little badge I had seen earlier.

"This is your explorer badge! It offically identifies you as a member of the guild." he explained, handing it over to me.

"Thank you..." I replied, still not able to believe how nice he was.

"Hey, why don't we show her the beach?" Lya asked all of sudden. "We still have time before dinner starts."

"That's a great idea!" Ozu answered. "Come on, Ri! You will love the view!"

We headed out of the guild and found ourselves at the crossroad again.

* * *

They lead me straight ahead and after a couple minutes of walking, a beach was in front of us.

We walked along the water for a while, when they suddenly stopped me. They sat down onto the sand... I did the same.

"At sunset, a few Krabby come out here and use their Bubble. The bubbles look gorgeous when they reflect the orange light fom the sun." Ozu explained. "It's a great way to lift up your mood when you don't feel so good."

"Well, the sea by itself is already beautiful." I replied, looking out into the ocean.

"It sure is... So, Ri? How was your day?" Lya asked.

"Not that exciting." I answered, rubbing the back of my head.

I proceeded by telling them about my visit to Marowak's Dojo, the Aura Garment, my visit to Kecleon's Shop and the training in Spinda's café.

I let out the incident with the Manetric and my little argument with the Verd and Purpo of course.

"... then I heard Loudred call your names, so I decided to go back to the main hall to wait for you." I finished.

"Well, our day wasn't that exciting either... We just had to recover a lost sitrus berry." Ozu replied.

The Pikachu poked the Chimchar's side all of a sudden. "Shouldn't we ask her now?"

"Oh, yeah..." His voice got serious. "Hey, Ri..."

"What's wrong?" I asked curiously.

"Uhm... Do you still want to find your friend? I mean you only came on the expedition to find him, so..." he siad with a sad expression on his face.

'I have already decided what I will do next...'

"Hey, we might find him on one of our explorations one day... I will stay with you until I find him." I answered with a smile.

They seemed to be happy with my decision.

We kept on staring into the ocean for a couple of minutes before I spoke up again.

"Hey, is this the beach you found Lya at?" I asked Ozu curiously.

"Yes, it was over there." he answered, pointing towards the end of the beach. There was something like a cave entrance.

"Uhm... Ri, there is something I want to talk about with you. It kind of fits into the amnesia topic..." Ozu suddenly got serious again. "Lya, could you wait at the guild for us?"

The Pikachu gave him a confused look, before she nodded. She got up and headed back towards the guild. I caught her turning around one last time, giving me a look that said "Don't try anything stupid!".

I faced the Chimchar again. "What is it?"

"Back at the lake, when you were unconscious... There was a weird symbol on your hand." he said, pointing at my right paw.

'He saw it? Dammit! I wanted to hide it.'

"Uhm... Yea, I have noticed it too." I replied, looking at my paw.

"I think that the other guild members didn't see the it. They were busy, carrying you back to the base camp. When we left Fogbound Lake, it disappeared." he carried on. "It took me a while to figure it out, but I have seen the symbol somewhere else."

"Really? Where?" I was getting curious again.

"Ri... It looked exactly like the Time Gear at the bottom of the lake." he finished.

'He is right! But... I think I already know what it is. The Dimesional Scream. Grovyle said that it... Uhm... what exactly did he say?'

Trying to remember, I brought my hand up to my chin, rubbing it. Ozu gave me a confused look.

'Hmm... he said that it was a ability that let me find the timegears... Ugh, I have forgotten how I did it... He never mentioned a weird symbol on my hand, that's for sure. He said something about... visions! Visions that let me see the places that were connected to the Time Gears! Wait...'

"Ri? Are you okay?" Ozu was getting concerned because of my absence.

'I don't think that my memory shreds had something to do with a Time Gear... Normally it's just my instinct, forcing out the memory of a move. But, if those aren't the visions Grovyle was talking about, then what are they?'

**BGM: Id (Sorrow) - Fire Emblem Awakening**

I gasped and my eyes shot open, when I realized.

Ozu responded with a worried look.

'It's her! She has vision from the past and the future! Her name is Riley, she used to be human and she has the Dimensional Scream! But if she is the real Riley...'

My whole idea of identity shattered at that moment.

...

A feeling of depression overcame me and my head sunk towards the ground.

"Who am I?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Ri? What's wrong? Did you figure something out?" Ozu asked as he grabbed my shoulder.

'My name... The mission... The partner... Everything isn't mine.'

Tears were forming at the corner of my eyes again. And with them, anger came too.

I pushed Ozu's hand off my shoulder and turned away from him. I rubbed my eyes with my paw in order to dry the tears off.

"Ri? Are you okay?" he sounded really concerned now.

"I... don't know who I am anymore." I sobbed, putting my hand down again.

"What do you mean?" he was getting confused again.

"I just realized that everything I know is a lie." My voice was still shaky.

"I don't know who I am, where I come from... It's just..." I continued. More tears were coming and I was simply getting frustrated by now.

When my anger wasn't able to hold me back any longer and I was just about to fall to my knees and burst out in tears, Ozu walked behind me and grabbed my shoulder again.

"Hey, don't lose the faith in yourself." he said in a calm voice.

My eyes shot open when I heard those words.

'Faith...'

I turned around. Where Ozu should be have been was now a black flickering figure. I grit my teeth as my head began to hurt like it was about to explode.

'This isn't a memory... Ugh.'

"Did you hear me?" the figure said with Ozu's voice.

The headache was joined by a light headed feeling as the blackness began to occupy my vision again. 'What...'

"Ri? Ri!"

My vision turned completely black.

_Don't lose the faith in yourself..._

That was the last thing my mind could process in the darkness, before I lost consciousness.

**Stop music**

* * *

**End of Chapter - 7**


	8. Being a friend

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Being a friend  
**

* * *

"Ri! Ri! Wake up! Please!" a voice yelled.

When I slowly came back to myself, I felt that I was laying on some sand. My head was still spinning and my senses were dulled.

"Ugh..." I tried to move my body, but it only resulted in only more dizziness.

"Ri?" the voice said again. I recognized it as Ozu's.

I opened my eyes and found a blurry orange circle in front of me. My eyes slowly adjusted themselves and the circle turned into the worried face of a Chimchar.

"Ozu?" I asked groggy.

"Holy Arceus! I'm so glad that you are okay." he said as his worried expression turned into a smile.

"What happened?" the dizzy feeling slowly faded away.

"You said that ou didn't know who you are anymore and other strange thing... When I tried to cheer you up, looked at me really weird and passed out all of a sudden." he explained.

"I... remember..." I replied, feeling depressed again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked with concern in his voice.

'What do I want? Everything I wanted before was to help Grovyle on his mission... But what do "I" want? Whoever that might be...'

I broke eye contact with the fire-type.

'Do I still want to help, even if I'm not "her"?'

...

'Yes. It might not be "my" mission but it's the only purpose I've got right now.'

A sigh escaped my mouth.

'I'm not Grovyle's real partner but I still have to help him... It doesn't even matter that I'm not Riley.'

The depressed feeling was slowly fading again.

'I am the person who promised to help Grovyle on his mission...'

...

'But... I'm also...'

A smirk formed on my face.

...

"Thank you." I replied, sitting up.

He was getting confused again.

"What for? Ri! Explain yourself!" he asked.

...

"For being my friend." I replied with a smile.

My answer perplexed him.

'I'm also Ri... A member of Team Ignition... That's at least one identity that really is mine.'

"I'm okay again. Our conversation just made me think about some bad things and well..." I got up from the ground.

"Let's just say that I finally figured out who I have to be."

"I still don't understand..." Ozu's voice was still full of worry.

"That's everything I will tell you for now." I replied.

"Ri... I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on. Please!" he was getting sad from my silence.

"I'm sorry that I have to keep a secret from you but I want to keep this to myself for a while longer..." I explained.

His head sunk towards the ground.

"Hey! Don't be like that! It might not look like it, but you really helped me a lot." I tried to cheered him up, grabbing his shoulder.

He made eye contact with me again.

"Thank you." I said, giving him a smile.

After a short moment of hesitation, he returned it.

"I'm sorry that I spaced out like that before... What did you want me to tell me about the symbol on my paw?" I asked trying to end the conversation about my weird behavior.

"It's..." He stopped for a moment. It looked like if he was debating about something. "Nothing... I just wanted to tell you that I noticed it on your paw..."

I didn't buy it. His eyes were telling me something different. He knew more than that it just looked like a timegear. But if I kept a secret from him, what takes his right to do the same. Maybe he just didn't want to put any more stress on me.

"Well, I don't know what it is either... Maybe we will find out one day." I replied, not mentioning that I knew that he was hiding something.

...

"Do you want to talk about something else or should we head back to the guild? Dinner should be ready soon." he asked, looking at the position of the sun.

"Let's grab some dinner..." I said, walking past him, back towards the guild. "After that I need to talk to you and Lya..."

* * *

We didn't talk on our way back. The gate to the guild was open this time, meaning that we didn't have to go through the procedure of walking on top of the "Identification Grid" again.

When we climbed down to the first floor, we could see that the rest of the guild members had returned from their missions. We greeted everyone and proceeded by climbing down to the second floor.

Lya was chatting with Chatot when we reached the ground.

We approached them.

"Oh, you are back! What did you talk about?" Lya asked curiously.

Ozu gave me a short look before he answered. "Uhm... Ri will tell you after dinner."

The Pikachu gave me a suspicious look before she responded with a nod.

"Oh, now that you mention it. It's almost Dinnertime. Would one of you be so kind and tell Chimecho to call everyone?" Chatot asked politely.

"Sure, I'll tell her." Lya replied, walking towards the stairs.

...

After a while, Chimecho floated down from the upper floor and flew into the hallway, leading to the Dinning Hall.

She let out a loud clinging noise, informing everyone about Dinnertime.

Ozu, Lya and I entered the room. A huge table was in the middle of it. Several stools were scattered around it. Plates and baskets with berries and apples were already placed on the table.

Just then I realized that I didn't have a proper dinner ever since Grovyle found me.

They walked over to what I assume were their usual seats. I followed and sat down on the chair next to Ozu.

It took less than a minute for the other members to come into the dinning hall and sit down too.

Chatot held a little speech, where he reviewed the events of the day, before he allowed everyone to dig in.

I immediately grabbed a few apples from one of the bowls. Just like usual, they I consumed them only in a matter of seconds. When I had finished the fourth one and threw it's core onto my plate, I noticed that everyone was staring at me.

...

I swallowed the remaining bits in my mouth. "Uhm... Is something wrong?" I asked, getting uncomfortable by their stares. They didn't respond.

One look stood out from the rest. Loudred wasn't looking at me but at my plate.

I looked at his plate and saw three apple cores. Looking at the other guild members revealed that they hadn't even finished a single one of their apples.

'Oh, I get what's going on here!'

I faced Loudred again. Both of us knew what the other one was thinking.

'If you want a competition, you can have one!'

Then it began. Loudred and me grabbed as many apples as we could from the bowls. We gave each other one final look before we ate the apples in front of us as fast as we could.

The other guild members began to cheer and applause as we tried to keep up with each other. I was in front with eight apples but the normal-type was quickly catching up to me, now that he knew that he had to do his best.

The completion ended when both of us fell off our chairs, due to the over saturation.

My stomach felt like it could burst any second. I looked at my belly and noticed that it had grown twice in size.

Ozu and Lya helped me back on my feet again. I could see that Sunflora and Corphish did the same with Loudred.

Everybody was silent when Ozu began to count the cores on our plates.

"Thirteen... Fourteen!... Fifteen! Ri wins with fifteen to thirteen!" he announced.

The other guild members were cheering at me, making me kind of embarrassed. I slowly walked to the other side of the table and faced the defeated Loudred. He looked at me jealously.

I smiled and reached my right paw out to him. "I can't wait for the next dinner!"

He accepted the handshake. "Me neither!" he replied with a smile.

Everybody laughed for a bit until Chatot spoke up again.

"I have to admit that this was quite a show, but remember that our guild has a limited budget. We can't buy that much food everyday just that you can see who is able to eat more... " he explained.

...

A smile formed on his face. "We might repeat it on special occasions though!"

His last comment raised the laughter again.

* * *

Everybody finished their meals and made their way to the sleeping quarters.

Upon entering Ozu's, Lya's and my room, I simply walked over my bed and dropped my probably twice as heavy body onto it.

"That was fun!" I said, sitting up.

"I can't believe how fast you ate those apples! And so many too!" Ozu commented.

"I've only see Loudred do something like that before." Lya added.

"Hehe! Yes, he is a worthy opponent... And I though the only people able to eat like that were me and..." A jolt of pain rushed through my head, stopping me to continue my sentence. I held my paw up to my head in response.

"Whoa, Ri! What's wrong?" Ozu was getting worried again.

The pain left as quickly as it came.

"Ugh... I just had a little headache all of a sudden." I explained, opening my eyes and putting my hand down again.

In front of me were a concerned Chimchar and a Pikachu who's look was more confused than concerned.

"Ri... That looked oddly familiar." Ozu replied with a worried voice. "Are you sure that you are okay?"

I knew exactly what he was getting at.

"No, it's nothing like it... I just had a headache, really!" I said, trying to calm him down.

"Familiar? What are you talking about?" the confused Pikachu asked.

Ozu looked at me like he was asking for a permission to bring up the topic.

I nodded and spoke up. "Lya... Or no... Riley. Back at the beach Ozu asked me a few questions and they made me remember some bad things."

When I called her Riley, her expression turned a little more serious than confused.

"Okay, I will tell you everything I want you to know for now. My real name isn't Riley.", I explained in a serious tone. "I thought that it was mine, because it was the first one I remembered. Maybe because I heard it when I was unconcious... Ozu's questions made me remember some stuff that proofed it to be wrong. And sorry, I won't tell you what I remembered. Not for now."

It took them a while to process it.

"So... If your name isn't Riley? What should we call you then?" Lya was getting confused again.

"Just keep on calling me Ri." I answered with a smile. "That's the only name I have right now."

They nodded in response.

"Oh, and now that we know that you are the only Riley here, you can have your name rights again!" I added with a grin.

"Ugh... Now I have to tell everyone to call me by my old name again." the Pikachu frowned.

I responded with a laugh.

"Hey, Ozu. Thank you, again." I faced the Chimchar again.

"I'm still worried about all of this. I will say it again too, we can't help you if you don't tell us what's going on in your head..." he replied with a somewhat sad voice. "Don't you trust us?"

"I do trust you. But this is something that I have to handle on my own. I promise that I will tell you someday." I answered.

His expression was still a little sad, but my promise lifted his mood again.

I yawned, trying to indicate that I wanted to put this conversation to rest and get some sleep.

They understood and sat onto their beds. They then removed the remaining gear on them. Riley took off her scarf and Ozu pulled his goggles from is head.

Seeing this, remembered me about my own equipment. I got up, put my two pouches and the cloth wrapped around my arm off and placed them back on our table.

I then walked back to my bed and let myself fall on it again.

"Good night." I said as I closed my eyes.

"Good night." my friends returned.

...

My belly still hurt a little from eating fifteen apples but luckily the feeling was also making me tired. After a couple of minutes of stirring around in my bed I finally drifted into slumber.

* * *

Loudred's wake up call woke me up next morning. I still couldn't understand how my friends have gotten used to it. When I sat up and looked at Loudred, he gave me a smile, which I happily returned. His belly was still blown up from our little showdown.

He walked back into the hallway. As I got up, I noticed that my belly had already gotten its normal size back.

'Thanks, digestive system!' I cheered in my head.

Ozu, Riley and I made ourselves ready and headed to the morning briefing.

...

Chatot usual morning speech motivated everyone and shook the remaining bits of sleep out of my mind.

"HURRAY!" the whole guild cheered, before they headed up the ladder.

I said good-bye to my friends, just as Chatot called me over to him.

"Ri, you should visit Chimecho for another medical check. After that come to the guildmasters office, we have a job for you today." he ordered in a serious tone.

I nodded and headed towards the infirmary.

Chimecho was just about to start with some paperwork when I walked into the room.

She floated over to me and instructed me to sit down on the chair from last time again.

Just like last time she used her psychic powers again to check my body.

...

"Um... Other than a completely full bowel, you are fine." she giggled. I responded with a wide grin.

"I will give you some more sitrus berries for your bone though." she continued, levitating two sitrus berries in front of me.

"Thank you!" I replied, grabbing them from the air.

"Was Marowak able to tell you what the anomaly was?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, it was just an ability I have. Aura Garment." I answered, biting into the first berry.

"Aura Garment? I have never heard of an ability like that." she turned confused.

"Well, Marowak told me that it enables me to use more aura." I explained, taking another bite.

"Um... So the hull of aura around your body is nothing to worry about? Well, that's good to hear." she sighed in relief.

"When I visit him again, I will ask him some more questions about that whole aura thing. Maybe he has an explanation why I almost lost all of it at the lake." I said, finishing the berry.

I quickly ate other sitrus berry, thanked Chimecho and left the infirmary.

I followed Chatot's instruction from earlier and approached the guildmasters room. I knocked on the door three times and shortly after that, Chatot called me in.

"Oh! Hello there apple friend!" Wigglytuff greeted me.

"I assume that everything went well with Chimecho." Chatot said as I closed the door.

I nodded and walked up to the desk.

"I have an important meeting with one of our clients, so I need you to help the guildmaster with filing the missions for tomorrow." he explained, handing some papers to me. 'Those are the missions that we pin onto the bulletin boards everyday. You have to make a summary of the request letters the federation sent us and write down the client, objective, area, difficulty and reward on those papers."

'Paper work? Uuuugh...' I frowned in my head.

"Chatot, that is soooo boooring!" Wigglytuff protested. "Why can't I just go on an easy mission with her or... or...?"

"Guildmaster! Please don't be difficult again! If we don't do them, our apprentices won't have any jobs for tomorrow!" he interrupted the fairy-type.

"Unfair." Wigglytuff sulked.

Chatot noticed my not so excited expression. "Ri, please take this task seriously. If you hurry up, you should be done within three hours."

'Three hours?!' My mental frown changed into a growl.

"I will be back after noon... And please, keep and eye on the guild master." he commanded, walking out of the room.

An awkward silence entered the room when the flying-type closed the door. The guildmaster and I just looked at each other.

...

"Uhm... Should we get started?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

"If you had a free day, where would you go now?" His carefree nature had turned into a serious one all of a sudden.

His change in attitude startled me for a moment.

"Uhm... I would probably visit Marowak at his dojo. Why do you ask guildmaster?" I answered, still feeling a little uneasy.

"Well... If I would coincidentally go there, you would have to follow me, because Chatot ordered you to keep and eye on me. Right?" he asked, still serious with every word.

"Are you planning what I think you are planning?" I asked, realizing what he was trying to say.

He responded with a wide grin... I was starting to like this guy.

"You are a wise man, guildmaster!" I complimented him with a smile.

"My friend, call me Wigglytuff!" he replied happily.

* * *

We waited for a couple of minutes before we headed out of the room. Making sure that nobody noticed us, we left the guild and made our way to Marowak's dojo.

I knocked onto the door and just like yesterday, the door shot open immediately. A Marowak with wide shining eyes was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Ri! You came back and..." He gasped when he saw my companion.

"The guildmaster! What brings me the honor?" Marowak asked with his eyes fixed on the pink fairy-type.

"My friend here has to keep an eye on me and I coincidentally decided to visit your dojo!" Wigglytuff said with a smile.

'I still can't believe he came up with this.'

Wigglytuffs answer confused him. He looked at me in hope of more information.

"Yup, Chatot ordered me to take care of him. I have to follow his every move!" I said mischievously.

He was completely perplexed when we simply walked past him and entered the dojo.

The familiar feeling overcame me again when I saw the battlefields and the dummies.

I walked up to the field.

"Uhm... What is the reason behind your visit?" Marowak asked as he closed the door. He looked at Wigglytuff but received no answer.

I turned around and noticed that the fairy-type was looking at me. Understanding that he wanted to know the reason too, I spoke up.

"Well, I was hoping if you could tell me something about my moves..." I explained.

"Wait, didn't you say yesterday that you can't train because of your injury?" he asked.

"I don't really want to train them, I just want to know more about them..." I answered. "My moves and abilities aren't exactly normal for a Riolu..."

"Not normal? What moves can you use then?" he asked, getting curious.

"I think showing is better than telling." I said, walking onto the training field.

Marowak and Wigglytuff were eager to find out what move I would show them.

I put my paws in front of me and concentrated my aura into them.

Marowak's eyes widened when he realized what move I was about to use.

I created a bone between my paws and broke it in half. I spun my batons around as usual, before I got into the stance Grovyle showed me.

"Hurray! Amazing! Beautiful!" the fairy-type cheered.

I looked at Marowak. His mouth was wide open and his left hand was pointing at me.

"Bone Rush?!" He was astonished. "And that stance..."

"My stance?" I asked, being a little confused by his last comment.

Marowak lowered his hand again.

"Attack one of my dummies." he ordered blankly.

"Uhm... Okay..." I replied, facing one of the wooden dolls.

'Hmm, should I use Extremespeed right away or just show him some of my basic movements?', I thought, getting ready to attack the wooden doll.

I decided not to use Extremespeed for my demonstration. If I combined the movements from Grovyle's fighting-style with it, my back could have begun to hurt again.

I dashed towards the dummy with my normal speed and brought my right bone forward, aiming for the side of the stomach. When I hit it, I could see a few pieces of wood fly into the air. I continued by quickly dashing around the dummy, jumped up into the air behind it and hit the back of its neck with my other baton.

I landed on my feet and let my bones disappear. I then walked back to Marowak and Wigglytuff.

"You are really strong, friend!" Wigglytuff complimented me. I smiled at him and rubbed the back of my head.

When I faced Marowak again, I could see a serious look on his face.

"Who taught you the Gavylian-style?" he asked curiously.

"Gavylian-style?" I replied. "So that's what it's called."

I obviously couldn't tell them that Grovyle taught me, what meant that I had to use my old amnesia excuse again.

"Well... I'm sorry. Again, I don't remember. I do know what the main idea behind that style is though." I continued.

"Really?" Marowak's voice was getting worried for some reason.

"Yes. Getting to your enemy's weak points, hitting them with he Gallade-style, blah, blah, blah..." I answered.

He gave me a worried look.

"That's not exactly it." he said in a serious tone. "The real idea is to reach the vital points of your enemies and kill them in one blow."

My eyes widened upon hearing this.

...

"K...kill?" I stuttered, not able to believe what I just heard.

"Yes, it was created by a clan of assassins. Their members are said to be very gruesome in finishing their contracts." he continued.

'Kill another living being?... I... Could I even do something like that?' My stomach began to feel sick and my breath began to tremble.

"I don't know how, but I assume that you had a connection..." The ground-type stopped when he noticed my shocked response. "Are you alright?"

"No... This isn't right... I... Taking somebody's life isn't an option. Never!" I managed to say between my irregular breath.

Somehow my whole body rejected the idea of killing. 'Why? Why would Grovyle teach me a style that is meant to kill other people?'

"Calm down. Please." Marowak tried to calm me down as he walked next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Remember that you are in control. You decide how you use your skills." he continued. "So what if it was made especially to kill other Pokemon? If you don't want to kill, then just don't do it."

His lecture calmed me down a bit. 'He is right... Maybe... Maybe I can change its purpose and create a totally new fighting-style. A version that has a completely different goal.'

"Thank you..." I replied. My breathing was normal again and the sick feeling in my stomach had faded. "Would... Would you work on a new style with me when I'm completely fit again?"

"Of course!" he answered with a smile.

"Do you want to stop or...?" Marowak asked, removing his hand from my shoulder.

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. That I learned how to kill just shocked me a bit."

He walked back to Wigglytuff and let me continue my demonstration.

'What next? Hmm... I will go in the order I learned my moves.'

"Hey! Marowak!" I called over to him as dust began to stir around my feet.

His eyes widened when I was suddenly gone.

"Boo!" I yelled, tapping his shoulder from behind him.

"AAAAHH!" he screamed, almost jumping into the ceiling. He landed on his tail when he came back towards the ground, resulting in some cursing.

Wigglytuff and I burst out into laughter.

"Ahahaha! That was amazing, friend!" The fairy-type had tears in his eyes.

It took us a while before everybody calmed down. Marowak from his anger and embarrassment and Wigglytuff and me from laughing.

The ground-type sighed. "Please don't ever do that again."

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry." I said with a grin.

The Marowak folded his arms before he continued to speak.

"That was definitively Extremespeed." he said in a serious voice. "The aura needed to execute this move is far above the level a normal Riolu could produce. Hmm... How long can you maintain the enhanced speed?"

"How long?" I remembered the time I had fought the Ditto at Limestone Cavern. "Uhm... Thirty seconds... I think... I was busy throwing bones at my enemy at that time."

"Thirty seconds?! And with bones you mean Bone Rush?" He was surprised by the fact that I had used another move while keeping up Extremespeed. "Even with your Aura Garment, this is outstanding!"

"Really? How much aura do I have?" I asked, getting confused by my strange aura again.

"I'm sorry but I am not skilled enough in aura-reading to determine the amount of aura a living being has... I am only able to see its form and nature." he explained, sounding disappointed about himself.

...

"You should be able to see the nature of aura in the form of waves when you close your eyes." he continued, getting to his normal tone again.

"Really?" I asked, closing my eyes. A couple of seconds went by and... I felt nothing.

...

"Can you feel something?" the ground-type asked.

"Nope." I answered, feeling a little disappointed. I opened my eyes again.

"That is strange." he replied. "Did something happen to your aura sensors?"

"Aura sensors?"

It took me a while to understand what he meant. I remembered the appendages on the side of my head. I grabbed my left one with my left hand and pulled it into my vision.

It was covered with black fur and felt kind of hard actually.

"If a Riolu's or Lucario's aura sensors get hurt in a battle, it restricts their ability to sense aura." Marowak explained.

"Well, they don't hurt or anything..." I said, squeezing it lightly.

The Marowak closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his chin with his left hand.

"Well, maybe a Lucario can help you with that. I heard that there is a tribe of them near Crystal Cave." he said as he opened his eyes again.

'Crystal Cave... A Time Gear should be located there. I should give them a short visit when I head there... But I have to convince my friends and find Grovyle first.'

"Hmmm... I will consider it!" I replied warmly.

...

We returned to my demonstrations.

"Next up, we have Aerial Ace!" I announced, collecting the streams of air around me.

I jumped up into the air and shot myself further upwards, nearly hitting the ceiling of the room.

I landed on my feet and finished the show with a gymnastic pose.

"Oh,oh,oh! I have seen that one before!" Wiggltuff cried out, clapping his hands.

"Aerial Ace... This isn't common for a non flying-type." Marowak explained. "Have you ever used it offensively or just for locomotion?"

"Well, I have tried to power-up a kick with it..." I replied, thinking back at Craggy Coast.

"I think I can teach you a technique that uses a similar principle." he continued.

"Really?!" I was getting excited. "What is it called?"

"I will tell you when you are able to properly train again. Okay?" he said in a serious voice.

"Okay..." I sighed, feeling disappointed again.

...

I stopped for a moment before I proceeded with my next move.

"Uhm... This isn't a move I would really use in a battle so I won't even bother to show you..." I began to explain.

"What can you tell me about Attract?" I asked, feeling kind of embarrassed.

The Marowak rubbed the back of his head. "Uhm... I'm sorry but I don't know that much about mind affecting moves..." he admitted.

Somehow I was a little happy that I didn't have to learn more about that move. It only brought me problems whenever I had used it.

"Well, if you can't help me with it... Let's move on to the next move" I replied.

...

"Uhm... I have no idea what my last move is called." I remembered the move that saved my life at Fogbound Lake. My audience responded with confused looks.

"Wait, I will show you." I said, walking back to the dummy I had used before.

I put my right paw on its chest. I then concentrated my aura into my paw. When I had collected enough of it, I shot it out in front of me. The shockwave almost ripped the dummy from its stand. The recoil from the attack was enormous and made me take a step back. My back began to sting a little, but it quickly faded again.

Looking at the almost broken doll, I was surprised by the force I was able to deliver. I faced Marowak again.

"That was Force Palm. A common move for your species." the ground-type elucidated. "It lets you send out a high pressured stream of aura from your paws. Basic aura-user technique."

"The recoil is pretty hard." I commented, feeling a little soreness in my right arm.

"With some practice, you should be able to compensate it with the right stance." he replied.

"And I would gladly help you with that!" he added with a smile.

"Thanks!" I returned with a wide grin.

...

"So... Something else you want to show me?" he asked.

"Uhm... No. That was it." I realized.

"Well, is there another way I can help you with or will come back when you have fully recovered?" he went on.

I looked at Wigglytuff. I remembered that I wanted to have a match with him when Ozu told me about his strength.

'I don't think I will get another opportunity to come to the dojo with him. I'm not completely fit, but this is probably the only chance I will get before I meet up with Grovyle again.'

...

"Well, actually there is something else I would like to do here." I finally answered with a smirk on my face.

"What is it?" the Marowak was a little confused by my expression.

I looked at the fairy-type again.

"Wigglytuff?" I asked as I walked up to him. "Would you do me the honor and have a battle with me?"

"Ri, didn't you say you couldn't train because of your injury? And now you want to have a battle with the guildmaster?" Marowak objected in a concerned voice.

"Well, I don't think I will get another oppertunity in the near future... It's not going to be a serious battle just a sparring." I explained. "So what do you say, guildmaster?"

He just stared at me for a couple of seconds. He had a little smile on his face which I didn't really understand until...

"If it is a fair match between friends... Sure thing!" he answered.

"Hurray! A match! I'm so exicted!" he cheered as he jumped towards the battlefield like a bunny.

"Could you be our referee?" I asked Marowak, before I walked to my side.

He nodded and made his way to the sideline of the field.

When I was on my designated spot I removed my pouches and put them behind the line behind me.

I faced my opponent again. Being done with his warm-up, he got into his battle stance.

I was getting excited. If what Ozu told me was true, this guy had to be one of the strongest people I would find.

I put my left paw in front of me and brought my right one near my hip, baling it into a fist.

...

"Ehm... Okay this is a match between Ri the Riolu and the guildmaster Wigglytuff!" Marowak announced for us.

...

"Begin!"

* * *

**End of Chapter - 8  
**


	9. Bad timing

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 9 - Bad timing  
**

* * *

...

"Begin!" Marowak yelled into the middle of the room, initiating our battle.

**BGM: Battle! Friend - Pokémon X&Y**

I dashed towards Wigglytuff who was still in his normal pose. Assuming that he fought more defensively than offensively, I choose my first attack to be a low swoop, aiming for his feet.

The fairy-type simply dodged by jumping over my attack. I used the momentum from my sweep to do a full 360 degree turn and went for a punch with my right fist.

He dodged again and let out a happy laugh as he rolled out of my attacks reach. His carefree attitude could be seen in his battle style.

Normally I wouldn't have anything against it but in a match, it somehow annoyed me. What was a battle good for if he didn't take it at least a little serious?

"Nice try, friend!" he called out happily.

I responded with a growl. 'And now he's mocking me? He's more of a clown than a fighter.'

I kept on my offensive assault, throwing swift punches and kicks at him. My opponent just evaded every single one of them, laughing like a little kid, doing so.

'Is this just a game to him?! I'll show him!' I growled in my head. My annoyance brought up a little anger.

I concentrated on Extremespeed and readied my left fist to deliver a punch to his face. Wigglytuff was right in front of me and with the extra speed from my move, my next attack would connect for sure.

Time around me slowed down and dust flew up from the ground around me. I used my right leg to shoot my body forward. From my point of view, the fairy-type seemed like it was frozen. While the distance between us got lesser and lesser, I noticed something strange. His body didn't move, but his eyes were fixed on my paw.

When I was close enough, I threw my fist forward. To my surprise, the Wigglytuff moved to the side, making my attack miss completely. His eyes lost the focus on my paw and met mine, while I was still hanging in the air.

'What the?!'

I had to do a roll and dig my feet and right paw into the soil in order to slow down my arrival at the ground.

'H... How did he dodge that? Did he use a move?' I thought as I got back up. 'No, there should have been a sign if he had used one...'

My opponent let out another laugh when I faced him again.

'He couldn't possibly...' My theory astonished me.

"That was quite, nice!" I yelled over to him with a grin.

The fairy-type simply returned another laugh.

"You analyzed my punches at their normal speed, so you could anticipate them when I combined a punch with Extremespeed." I added. 'This guy really knows how to fight. Not only was he able foresee my movement, he is also fast enough to dodge them without even using a move.'

I had to change my strategy. 'If offense doesn't work, let's try defense.'

I got into my battle stance and indicated him with my paw to attack me.

"Okeydokey!" he replied, jumping towards me like a child that is mimicking a horse.

I tensed up, trying to get ready for everything he could plan.

He was right in front of me when he put his arms forward. It wasn't a punch... Neither was it a try to grab me. Not that it mattered. I pushed his arms outwards with mine and readied them to be pushed into his stomach.

When I threw them forward, he was suddenly gone. My eyes widened when my paws went right though thin air.

I could hear a chuckle behind me.

"TICKLE!" Wigglytuff yelled, putting his arms to my now exposed sides.

I gulped when I felt his hands touch me.

Then he began.

In a matter of second, I found myself lying on my belly. I had tears in my eyes as the giggling fairy-type tickling me, forced me to laugh.

"Hahaha, stop! Hahaha! Please!" I yelled, trying to get away from him.

My resistance only made it worse. Wigglytuff laughed happily and seemed to enjoy every single moment of it.

"Hahaha! I can't handle anymore! Stop! Please! Hahaha..."

When the torture finally ended I quickly rolled to my side and jumped away from him.

"Could you just be a little serious about this?!" I yelled angrily, feeling offended by his childish behavior.

This time, the Wigglytuff didn't respond. He just stood there with his silly grin.

Out of anger, I used Extremespeed again and dashed forward, going for another punch.

Though this time, he didn't follow my fist with his eyes. 'Now I'll get him!'

I threw my paw into his stomach, using all the strength I could bring up.

A grin formed on my face when my punch connected. The force from the attack would knock him out of the field for sure, meaning that I would win...

Or at least I though so...

It took me a second, before I realized that my punch didn't have any effect.

I just looked at my fist with wide eyes as it touched the fairy-types belly... He let out a giggle.

"What the...?" I couldn't believe that I did no damage what so ever.

"I'm taking this serious, friend." Wigglytuff spoke up again. "Tickle is a move that lowers your opponents offensive and defensive capabilities."

"What?!"

I was getting confused of how tickling could make my punches less effective.

"And now that your defense is down... Hihihi!" he chuckled, grabbing my arm with his right hand.

He was just about to unleash his attack when, Marowak suddenly interrupted him.

**Stop the music**

"Stop! The fight is over!" he yelled from the sideline.

...

Upon hearing this, Wigglytuff let go of my hand and took a step back.

"Wait, what?! Why?" I asked angrily. I didn't want the fight to stop.

"Ri, you are still hurt and no matter what attack the guildmaster would have used, it would have dealt some serious damage." the ground-type explained as he walked on the field.

"I could have handled it!" I protested, folding my arms and breaking eye-contact with him.

"No, you coud not have handled it. I have seen the guildmaster fight before and his only physical attack is a fairy-type move." Marowak continued in a serious tone.

"Jup, jup! But I would have gone for another Tickle and forfeited after that." Wigglytuff giggled.

A cold shiver run down my spine when I heard the word "Tickle". I hoped that I would never be hit by that move again.

"Wait... You would have forfeited? Why?" I asked, shocked by his plan.

"Well, I wouldn't want to hurt a friend anyway." Wigglytuff replied. "And especially not a friend who is already injured."

I was still a little upset, but I nodded in understanding.

"Well, let's say this match is a draw." Marowak suggested with smile. "Are you okay with that?

"Okay." I replied as I turned towards Wigglytuff and held my paw out to him.

The fairy-type let out a happy laugh as it returned my handshake.

"But..." I said before I let go of his hand. "You have to promise me that we are going to have a rematch!"

"Promise!" he replied with a smile.

* * *

I thanked Marowak for his help again before we left the dojo and headed towards the main square of treasure town.

"What now?" I asked as we walked.

"I don't know my friend. Where do you think coincidence will lead us next?" he answered with a small giggle at the end.

"Uhm... Spinda's cafe? Spinda said he would teach me Own Tempo... But we are two people now... It would be kinda boring for you." I replied. "Well, its probably lunchtime by now... We could get something to eat."

"Oh, yes! Perfect Apples! We can eat them and tell each other how much we like them!" the Wigglytuff cheered happily.

I sweatdropped. 'He can't be serious... Well, I guess I have to get used to his weird behavior.'

"Uhm... Can't we get something else that apples? I kind of need a break from them after that showdown with Loudred from yesterday." I explained, rubbing the back of my head.

The guildmaster looked sad all of a sudden. "I thought you were my apple friend..."

"Well, normally I do like apples... It's just that I had too many of them yesterday. I will do that with you another time! I promise!" I said, trying to cheer him up.

The fairy-types mood shifted instantly. "Really?! Hurray!" he cheered as he jumped into the air.

I responded with another sweatdrop.

"Well, we still have to finish Chatot's job... Should we head back to the guild and just get it over with?" I asked. I didn't like to do paper work, but I also didn't want to get in trouble.

"Mmeeeh... Do you really want to do this boring stuff?" Wigglytuff asked in a somewhat sad voice.

"Not really, but I don't want to get in trouble either." I replied.

I had to spend five more minutes convincing him until he finally agreed to head back to the guild.

* * *

We just reached the crossroad when a familiar figure walked out of Spinda's café.

I began to sweat when I recognized who it was.

Chatot was staring at us with a look that said "Am I really seeing this right now?".

We just stared at each other for a couple seconds until...

"Hi, Chatot!" Wigglytuff spoke up all of sudden.

"Guildmaster? Ri?" he replied, still not able to believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing here?"

"I coincidentally wanted to go to Marowak's Dojo and because you ordered Ri to keep an eye on me, she had to come with me of course." he replied with a smile.

"Y.. You did what?" Chatot stuttered. "And the letters? How many of them are finished?"

"Zero." Wigglytuff answered. 'Oh no, this can't turn out good.'

The Chatot was stunned for a moment before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Please get back to the guild immediately." he said in a calm voice. "Guildmaster, I would like you to head to your office and start with the paper work. And Ri... Please wait in your room. I will visit you after I checked on something."

...

"But, Chatot! Pape..." Wigglytuff started but was cut off by a shout.

"NOW!" Chatot screeched so loud that my eardrums could have ripped.

We didn't hesitate and rushed towards the guild immediately.

Wigglytuff and I rather jumped down the ladders than climbing them.

I gave the fairy-type one last look before I headed to the sleeping quarters. He was winking at me with a grin.

I entered my room and closed to door behind me. When I wanted to take off my pouches and put them on the table, I gasped.

They weren't there.

'I have forgotten them at the dojo! God dammit!' I cursed in my head.

I didn't dare to leave the guild again. Chatot was probably angry enough. 'I hope I won't get in trouble.'

I sat on the table and waited for Chatot to arrive.

Fifteen minutes went by until I heard a knock on the door.

I got off of the table and opened it. A serious looking Chatot and an angry Chimecho were behind it. The bird pokemon had something in his "arms".

It were my pouches. Sweat was forming on my forehead when I realized that they knew everything. 'Busted.'

Chatot walked over to out table and put them onto it. Chimecho used her psychic powers to close the door behind her. She then floated next to Chatot.

"Would you like to tell us what happened or should I review everything?" the flying-type started. "My orders were to keep an eye on him so he would NOT leave the guild."

"Uhm... Sorry. I kind of didn't want to do paperwork and Wigglytuff said it would be okay..." I answered.

"That's not even the tip of the iceberg!", Chatots voice got louder with every word. "You dragged him to Marowak's Dojo, trained there without the permission of Chimecho and worst of all, challenged the guildmaster to a battle!"

"Yea I know, but..." I got interrupted by a loud screech from Chatot.

"This is not acceptable!" he yelled. "Not only did you endanger you own health, you also ignored both of our orders!"

The flying-type had to cool down before he continued his lecture.

"You are not allowed to leave your room again. Your punishment is over when Chimecho allows you to go on missions with your team." he said in a serious tone.

"Wait, what?" I asked, not able to believe that he grounded me like that. "Why? Nothing bad happened! I feel..."

"Silence!" Chatot screeched. "I don't want to hear any excuses! You will stay in your room and think about what you have done. Your team members will bring you something from dinner later. I want to see you tomorrow at the morning briefing."

With that he left the room and slammed the door close behind him.

Chimecho was still in the room and looked at me with a angry face.

"I will do a check on you now... Tomorrow before dinner I will decide if you are fit enough to go on a mission." she said.

Her eyes began to glow again and the weird sensation of her "diagnosis-power" went through my body again.

"You can be lucky that nothing happened during your training. " she continued. "I will give Ozu and Lya another Sitrus berry for you when they grab your food."

"Thanks..." I replied. "Oh! And by the way, you can call Lya, Riley again..."

"Oh, really? How comes?" she asked. Her anger from before turned into curiosity.

"Well, she was the first Riley and..." I began to explain. "Just go with it... I kind of like my new nickname better anyway."

"If you say so... Okay then, I will see you tomorrow." she replied as she floated towards the door.

* * *

When she closed the door behind her, I let out a loud sigh.

**BGM: Lazy Afternoons - Kingdom Hearts II**

'What now? It's probably early afternoon right now and my friends won't come back for the next few hours.'

I walked over to my bed and let myself fall on it. I put my arms behind my head, bent my left knee and placed my right leg onto it.

After I looked at the ceiling for a while, I decided to go over everything that happened and how I will go on, again.

'Okay, so Grovyle is probably on his way to Fogbound Lake right now... And I am here at the guild, trying to gain enough trust of my friends so they would believe me and help us... I will go on their missions for a week or more and then... Hmm... I will see when I tell them everything.'

My mind shifted to the many unsolved mysteries that bugged me.

'Okay... So I know I'm a human that trained martial arts and came to this world at least a few months before Grovyle found me. I wonder what I was like... Grovyle description was about Riley, so I can forget about that one.'

I put my left paw on my chin.

'Hmm... What did I learn about myself in the last couple of weeks? I don't like to hurt innocent people. Check. I want to fight every strong person I come across. Check. And I absolutely despise the thought of killing someone. Check. Oh, and I can eat a ton of apples.'

My last thought made me chuckle.

'Did I have a family? I guess... Friends? Probably... If I'm fifteen... Hmm... Did I have a boyfriend?'

The thought made me think about Grovyle again.

'Ugh... I didn't want to think about this... But now that I have the next couple of hours for myself...'

I sat up and folded my arms.

'He said he had a crush on me when... Oh, right. He had a crush on Riley.'

The thought made me feel a little depressed.

'But he checked me out at Limestone Cavern, didn't he? Does that mean he is interested in... me? Am I even interested?... What am I interested in anyways?'

...

'Hmm... My boyfriend would have to be strong, nice, caring and good-looking of course.'

I blushed a bit when my first three conditions exactly fit Grovyle.

'Ugh... But the good-looking part? I still have no idea what makes a Pokemon attractive... What do I like about Grovyle?'

Closing my eyes, I imagined his face in front of me.

...

'Probably his eyes... There is something in his eyes that makes me feel really comfortable. They somehow tell you that he knows what he's doing and that everything is going to work out in the end...'

I opened my eyes again.

'Would I... Would I want to... Could I really like him? But... He's a gecko and I'm a dog... thing.'

Just then I realized how strange all of this would look.

'Okay, this is getting awkward! I know why I didn't want to think about this.'

I forced myself to think about something different.

'Where was I? Oh, right... I wonder where I lived...'

I continued to speculate about my human life for a while.

After a while, I came to the question about my time as a Pokemon before I met Grovyle.

'I wonder how I ended up in all of this. Chatot mentioned that the Hawlucha from my memory probably lived on another continent. Maybe I should go there and see if somebody recognizes me... I have to safe the world before that of course.'

Another sigh escaped my mouth.

I spent about an hour to speculate how I would tell Riley about the truth. 'Hey, you are from the future and the partner of the guy who is stealing the Time Gears right now. But its okay, he's trying to safe the world. By the way, I'm helping him.' wouldn't be very successful.

All the thinking made me tired after some time, so I decided to take a little nap.

I rested my head on the hay beneath me and closed my eyes.

...

...

...

...

My nap ended when two laughing pokemon opened the door.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Oh! Hi there, Ri!" Ozu greeted me with a smile.

"Hi." I replied groggily.

"How was you day?" Riley asked as she detached her pouch from her hip.

I let out a long yawn before I answered.

"Uhm... Not so good." I answered in a sad voice.

"What why?!" Ozu asked, being a little shocked.

"I'm grounded." I explained. "Chatot made me do some paperwork with Wigglytuff. We kind of sneaked out of the guild and had a little sparring match at Marowak's Dojo..."

"You had a match with the guildmaster?! Did you win?" he was more surprised than shocked now.

I shook my head. "We couldn't finish our battle... He didn't want to hurt an already injured friend. But he really is as strong as you said..."

I then described my battle with Wigglytuff to them.

"He really dodged your Extremespeed without using a move?" Riley asked after I finished.

"Yea, I have to train a lot more if I ever want to beat him in a real battle." I replied. "But that has to wait for now. I'm stuck in this room until Chimecho decides that I'm able to go on missions with you."

"Well, that sucks... So what are you going to do tomorrow? Laying in your bed all day will get boring for sure." Ozu asked.

"I don't know yet. Maybe some training, a nap..." I answered.

Suddenly our conversation got interupted by a loud ringing noise. It was Chimecho, calling everyone for dinner.

"Oh, I guess we should get to the dinning hall... Are you allowed to come to dinner or...?" Ozu said as he walked towards the door.

"Nope. Chatot said that you two are supposed to bring me something" I replied in a sad voice.

"Oh, and please bring me something else than apples. I kind of need a break from them." I added with a chuckle.

"Hahaha, we will find something good for you." Riley said as she closed the door behind them.

**Stop** **music**

...

It took them half an hour to come back with a small basket full of berries. Riley aslo had the sitrus berry from Chimecho in her hand.

They handed everything to me and I sat onto the table in our room.

I ate the sitrus berry first, before I dug into the mix of blue and pink berries.

Feeling satuated, I hopped on my bed to let my stomach do its work.

My friends did the same and sat onto their beds.

We then talked about their mission. They had to aid a team of archeologists to finish their exploration of a cave.

My friends and I kept on talking for another hour or so. They told me some more funny stories about their previous adventures. Soon, the topic changed to explorations in general. From exploring to fighting and from fighting to training.

"Hey, would you like to work on a proper fighting style?" I asked the Pikachu. "Back at the expedition, I have seen that you know how to use your moves. But you don't really have a proper style."

"A style?" she asked, not knowing what I meant.

"Well, you just use one move after another... Maybe we can work on some combinations." I explained. "I would love you to join me when I'm allowed to visit Marowak's Dojo again."

"If you say so." Riley replied with a grin.

'Training with her is a great way to gain her trust again.'

Our conversation continued and we talked some more about exploring until Ozu noticed that it was already nighttime. Moonlight was shining through our window and gave the room a pleasant lighting.

"Hey, I think we should get some sleep now. We have to give it our all tomorrow after all." the Chimchar said as he put of his goggles and placed them next to his bed.

"Okay..." I relied, untying the cloth around my arm. I then rested my head on the hay again. "Good night."

"Good night." my friends returned.

I had some trouble with falling asleep for a while. It had been only a couple of hours since my nap. However, my mind managed to rest itself after some time.

A final yawn escaped my mouth before I drifted into sleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 9**


	10. Document-forgers and Lady-killers

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Document-forgers and Lady-killers  
**

* * *

"UP AND AT 'EM IT'S...!"

"WE GET IT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs to mute the screech from Louded as my body shot into a sitting position.

My still half asleep eyes fixed on the normal-type who had a shocked expression on his face.

"Morning." he finished weakly before he walked back into the hallway.

"That wasn't nice of you..." Ozu commented as he hopped onto his feet.

"Stupid wake-up call." I replied groggily.

My friends and I got up and prepared ourselves for the morning speech.

We walked into the main room and ordered ourselves among the other guild members.

A few of them asked me why I hadn't been at dinner yesterday. I was just about to answer when Chatot and the guildmaster came out of the office.

Chatot then held the morning briefing and just as usual...

"HURRAY!" the whole guild cheered.

The flying-type then called me over to him. In his left "hand" he held a stack of paper. In the other one was a feather and a small bottle of ink.

'Oh, god...' I knew exactly what he was about say.

"Ri... Take this into your room." he said, handing the items over to me. "Loudred will bring you the letters from the federation. You know what you have to do."

"I'm already grounded and now I have to do paperwork too? That's not..." I tried to protest but Chatot interrupted me.

"The curfew is the punishment for you reckless behavior. You haven't worked at all yesterday, so you still have to catch up on it." he said as he turned around and walked back into Wigglytuff's room.

"Oh, and don't even think of escaping your room. Loudred will guard your door all the time." he added before he closed the door behind him.

I sighed and let my head hang low.

"Hey, it could be worse." Ozu tried to cheer me up. The Chimchar grabbed my shoulder and gave me one last smile before he and Riley said good-bye and headed towards the stairs.

I walked back into my room and placed the items on the table. I didn't have to wait very long before Loudred knocked onto the door.

I saw a huge pile of letters in Loudred's arms when I opened it.

Letting out another sigh, I told him to put it on the table.

"There you go! Have FUN!" he teased with a grin before he walked out of my room and close the door behind him. 'What did I do to... Oh, right.'

I then grabbed a stool from one corner of the room, put it in front of the table and sat down on it.

* * *

'Ugh... Okay, I guess I should get started..." I thought, opening the bottle of ink.

I placed an empty sheet of paper in front of me and put the feather in my right paw.

'Ugh, how am i supposed to write with hands like this? Wait... Can I even write at all?... I guess I have to try.'

I dipped the feather into the ink and placed it on the paper.

I guided my pen shakily across the paper, but after a while I managed to write "HELLO".

'Yay! I did it.'

My writing looked more like a scribble than actual letters. I crumpled it up and thew it over my head. 'I will clean it up later.'

I took the first letter from the pile and opened it. It was written in footprint runes, though I had no problem reading them.

_Hello, my name is Needle and I'm a Nidoran. My little sister lost her headband at Mount Horn. She said that it suddenly wasn't there anymore, after she and a friend had cleared the sixth floor of the dungeon. I will pay you 1000 Poke for retrieving it._

'Oh, okay... Now what do I have to write one the mission letters again?... Uhm... The client... The objective and the area... The difficulty and... The reward.'

I put another empty sheet in front of me and placed my feather on it.

'Wait a second... I can't write this in English... Can I write in footprint runes too?'

Guiding my shaky pen across the paper again, I drew the little footprint letters onto it. When I was finished, "HELLO" could be read in the pokemon font.

A sigh of relief escaped my mouth.

'Whew... Chatot would've killed me if I didn't know how to write.'

I took a new sheet and started to summarize the letter from the Nidoran. When I was done, it looked a little something like this.

**_Lost Headband_**

_Client: Needle the Nidoran  
_

_Objective: Retrieve his little sister's headband_

_Area: Mount Horn 6F_

_Difficulty: Easy_

_Reward: 1000 Poke_

I had no idea how hard this mission actually could be, but assuming that a team only had to go to the sixth floor and find a headband, I decided to mark it as "Easy".

My writing was somewhat acceptable, what made me even more proud about my first finished letter.

The next few letters from the federation were pretty much about the same stuff. But after a while, I came across a writing about an outlaw.

_Hello, I'm Squirtle and a group of bandits is terrorizing my village. Their leader is a strong Pancham. Their hideout is somewhere inside of Apple woods. My village doesn't have a lot of money, so we can only bring up 2000 Poke. But we will give you a few items in return too. __I have to warn you though. This Pancham has some mean tricks. Nobody in our village was able to stand a chance against him. Please help us!_

This letter made me curious somehow. 'Nobody was able to stand a chance against him? This guy must be really strong then!'

I turned the letter into a "wanted poster". Not able to draw a proper image of a Pancham, the result looked like this.

_**Bandits terrorizing Village**_

_Client: Squirtle  
_

_Objective: Arrest the bandit-leader Pancham_

_Area: Apple Woods_

_Difficulty: Medium_

_Reward: 2000 Poke + ?_

'I would love to do this mission tomorrow... Hmm...'

A mischievous idea formed in my head.

I added another sentence at the bottom of the poster.

_Restriction: Fighting-type team member required_

'Hehe, this mission is mine.'

I put the poster to my other finished ones and proceeded with the rest of the letters.

Most of them were about lost items and other bandits. When I opened the last letter from the pile, I gasped. I read every letter with wide open eyes.

_The timegear from Limestone Cavern has been stolen! Its guardian Ditto was found with severe injuries. He hasn't woken up yet. Our doctors fear that he won't wake up at all and stay in a coma. A lot of burns and bruises were found on him. However, the reason for his critical state is a deep cut from a blade. We found traces of a leaf in his wound, so we assume that the culprit is a grass-type. We have narrowed down the idendity of the thief to the following species. _

_Grovyle, Sceptile, Snivy, Servine, Serpirior, Shiftry, Leafeon.  
_

_If you see any of them around the location of another timegear, please inform Magnezone immediately._

"Oh, no... This is bad. Really bad!... Did... Did Grovyle really attack that Ditto when I had already beaten it?! Why would he do something like that?!'

I shook my head and pushed those irrelevant thoughts out of my head.

'Ugh, I have to do something! Should I just destroy this letter and never talk about it again?... But what if Chatot notices that one letter is missing? No, I have to do something else... Maybe... Maybe I can cover Grovyle somehow... Yes! That's it! I will just make a summary and leave his species out! That way, nobody from the guild would look for a Grovyle.'

I immediately executed my idea and wrote a fake summary.

_**Second timegear has been stolen!**_

_The timegear from Limestone Cavern has been stolen! Our investigator found clues that let us narrow down the possible species of the culprit.  
If you find any of the following pokemon near the location of another timegear, please inform Magnezone immediately.  
_

_Snivy, Sevine, Serpirior, Shiftry, Leafeon_

'Okay, this should work... Now what to do with the original letter? They will probably throw them away, now that I summarized all of them.'

I put the original back into the pile.

'Okay... I should postpone the information about the second timegear too... I will just put it at the bottom... Yes, that could work.'

After cleaning up the table, I organized my finished sheets into a stack.

Just then, somebody knocked onto the door.

"Come in!" I answered, turning around to see who it was.

Chatot walked into the room with a bowl of berries.

"How far have you gotten until now?" he asked, walking over to me. The flying-type put the bowl next to the pile of letters.

"I'm done." I replied proudly.

"Really? All of them?" he asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Yup." I assured him.

He then looked at the well-ordered papers on the table.

"I didn't expect you to finish everything in three hours... Well, I guess you really deserve the lunch then." he said, grabbing the papers. "Loudred will clean up that pile later. You can keep the the ink and the feather. Maybe you could write a story or something if you're bored."

Chatot then walked back to the door. I heard him mutter something about "unreadable".

"Pardon?" I asked, exactly knowing what he was mumbling about.

"Nothing! Enjoy your meal!" he replied nervously as he closed the door.

'I hope it takes him a while before he sees the last paper.' I thought, eating the first berry. 'This should give Grovyle some more time.'

I quickly finished my meal and waited for Loudred to grab the heap. I didn't have to wait long for him.

After he had carried the letters out of the room, I had a couple of hours for myself again.

Most of the time until my friends arrived was spent with me drawing and writing on the empty sheets of paper which were still left on table. Most of them turned into unneccessary scribbles and doodles, so I crumpled up all of them, after they were full.

Luckily my friends walked into the room when I my options on things to do went short. I was laying on my bed, so I sat up to face them.

"Hi, there!" they greeted me.

"Oh, hi! How was you day?" I replied happily, glad that I finally had company again.

"It was okay... We had an easy mission today. I will you tell you about it after dinner." Ozu answered with a smile. "How was yours?"

"Uhm... Well, I had to do the paperwork from yesterday... It was still okay though." I said, getting up from my bed.

"Have you visited Chimecho yet? Chatot told us that you could go to the infirmary now." he continued.

"Oh, really? I hope she says that I'm ready to come with you tomorrow. I wouldn't stand another day locked up in here." I replied with a grin.

"Should we come with you or...?" Riley asked.

"If you want." I answered with a smile.

The three of us headed out of the room and walked to the infirmary. I knocked onto the door and shortly after, Chimecho called us in.

"Oh, Team Ignition." she greeted. "Are you ready for the moment of truth?"

The psychic-type ordered me to sit down on the chair again. Just as usual, she used her "diagnosis power" on me.

When she was finished, she let out a sigh.

"Well, your rib has completely recovered... I guess I have give you the permission now." she explained.

"Finally!" I cheered, throwing my hands up into the air.

I received some happy smiles from my friends.

"Here, let me take off that last bandage." she continued.

Her eyes started to glow again and the bandage around my chest slowly unwrapped itself.

My fur was still pressed against my body, leaving a slightly different colored stripe on my chest. I used my paw to fix my fur again.

"Thank, you!" I said with a smile on my face.

"No problem. Be more careful from now on." she replied with a serious voice.

"I'll try." I said with a grin.

"I'm sure of that." Her voice was full of sarcasm. "By the way, I have already prepared dinner, so you can head straight for the dinning hall."

"Okay!" we said in union as we headed to the main room.

When I closed the door behind us, Chatot stood in front of us all of a sudden.

"And?" he asked.

"I'm completely fit again!" I answered with a grin.

"Good, your team members will instruct you on everything tomorrow. We hope to see some good work from you!" he continued with a smile.

"Sure thing!" I replied happily.

* * *

The rest of the day went on without any major events. The dinner was great and I had a little small talk with the other guild members.

When we were back at our room, I cleaned up the table and carried all of the crumbled pieces of paper outside into the hallway. I threw them into a barrel that stood in one corner of the hall. Other trash was already inside it, so I assumed that it operated as a trashcan.

I walked back into our room and threw myself onto my bed.

My friends and I talked a while longer before we decided to go to sleep.

"Let's give it our all tomorrow!" Ozu said with a warm smile.

"Sure!... Good night, then." I replied, also smiling.

"Good night." they returned in union.

* * *

"UP AND AT 'EM, IT'S MORNING!"

'Ugh, here we go again...' I opened my eyes and sat up.

Looking at Loudred, revealed that he was giving me a grin. The meaning behind it was clear... He didn't like it if somebody interrupted his wake-up call. His grudge from yesterday was gone now.

I got up and equipped myself for the first mission I would have with my team. I already knew which one we would choose.

We finished our preparations and headed to the main room.

Chatot held his morning speech and the whole guild finished it with the usual cheer.

This time, I climbed into the first floor, alongside the other guild members.

I immediately lead my friends to the outlaw-board and looked for the mission I had "reserved" the day before.

"Are you sure that you want to hunt an outlaw on your first mission?" Ozu asked with a concerned face.

"Yea, sure!" I replied. I then brought my head near his ear.

"All those letters are actually from me. I found an interesting mission yesterday and reserved it for us." I whispered.

I turned towards the board and looked for the mission again.

"Ah, there it is!" I said as I grabbed the paper from the board.

I held it to my friends, so they could read it.

Ozu looked at it like he was understanding everything, however, Riley's expression was completely different.

'She has no idea how to read footprint runes.' I concluded.

I reacted immediately and told her what we were going to do today.

"A group of bandits is terrorizing a village. Their hideout is somewhere in Apple woods and their leader is a strong Pancham. We get two thousand Poke and some extra items for arresting him." I explained to her with a smile.

"Oh, okay. Thank you." she replied, returning the smile.

"Well..." Ozu started. "This is going to be our first mission!"

We left the guild and made our way to the forest.

* * *

It was exactly like the time went traveled on the expedition.

Ozu mostly talked about exploring and Riley added a few comments here and then while we walked on the road.

One topic brought up an uncomfortable conversation for them.

"I hope we won't have any problems this time..." Ozu said, turning his head towards the ground.

"This time? Have you been to Apple woods before?" I asked, interested on what was behind his sad look.

"Well, do you remember Team Skull?" he began to explain. "A few days before we found you, Chatot ordered us to go to Apple woods and collect some Perfect apples for the guildmaster. Those idiots followed, knocked us out with their "gas-combo" thing and stole all the apples so we couldn't finish our mission. We tried to explain it to Chatot but he still punished us."

Hearing this brought up a little anger... Oddly, it was more against Chatot then Team Skull.

"He really didn't let you explain it? Dammit, will those prejudicing idiots ever listen?!" I exclaimed, baling my right paw into a fist.

My friends gave me a confused look...

"What do you mean?" Riley asked.

I blinked. 'Prejudicing idiots? Who are...?' A headache interrupted my thought.

A grunt escaped my mouth as I brought my paw to my head.

The feeling quickly faded and I faced my friends again. Trying to find the thought again resulted in a useless search. My brain couldn't bring up the information again.

"Uhm... I don't... Just forget it." I finally answered.

Ozu was giving me his familiar concerned look again.

"Anyway, what happened to Team Skull? I still remember that we left them by the statue..." I said, trying to divert from my weird headache.

"Well, Wigglytuff said that they didn't want to finish the expedition and left the forest." Ozu explained, still looking concerned. "Since then, nobody has seen them again."

"I hope it stays that way. I won't be so nice like at the forest when they try something again." I replied with a growl.

"Me too. I hope we never have to smell them again." Ozu said with a grin.

* * *

It took us about three hours before we reached the border of the forest.

Before we entered the dungeon that surrounded the forest, Ozu stocked everyone up with Oran berries.

"Okay, we could come across some bandits in the dungeon. Most criminals build their hideouts inside forest that are surrounded by dungeons. They act as a natural security system for them. They probably have scouts patrol inside it, if one of them spots us, we lose the chance to take them by surprise.", the Chimchar explained.

"Okay, I got it. Let's do this." I replied, giving him a thumps up.

We entered the forest and the weird "dungeon feeling" overcame me again. My friends and I got back to our usual routine. Riley leaded, Ozu and I followed.

The common inhabitants of the forest were grass and bug-types, meaning that Ozu fought most of our battles.

His skill in covering his body with flames has gotten better since the expedition. His Fire Punches looked very powerful and knocked out every plant and bug pokemon in one hit.

I took the opportunity to train my Force Palm attack. The force from the move was huge and sent the feral pokemon flying. So was the recoil. My arm felt sore and a little numb after I had used it a couple of time. It also consumed a considerable amount of aura, leaving me a little drained.

I ate an Oran berry to get my get my energy back.

Riley showed that she was able to use Thunderbolt by now. Her small shocks from Thundershock had turned into menacing bolts of lightning.

We cleared around half of the dungeon, when we came across a big room with a group of bandits in it, which were carrying some boxes and bags. I assumed that it was their loot.

"Hey, those pokemon over there look like explorers!" one of them yelled when he noticed us. It was a Tyrogue, pointing at us with its finger.

**Soundeffect: Alert (!) from Metal Gear Solid**

"Quick! Go and tell the boss!" another one yelled at a Pidgey which immediately dropped the bag it was carrying with its claws and dashed off into a hallway.

The owner of the second voice was Breloom.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here?!" the grass-type yelled over to us.

"What do you think we are doing?! Were here to beat up some bandits!" I yelled back as we walked closer to them.

My view focused on the Tyrogue. "Riley, Ozu. Can you take the Breloom? I want to see what the other one can do." I said with a grin.

"Hah! You think you can take us on?" the Breloom taunted.

"Sure we can!" we yelled back in union.

The other fighting-type was eying me keenly. I walked up to it, cracking the knuckles of my paw.

"Why do you get the small one?" Riley rebelled.

"Hey! Don't judge him just because he's small! Never underestimated an opponent." I replied seriously.

My friends approached the grass-type and got ready to fight him.

"Come on! Let's go!" I said as I got into my battle stance.

**BGM: Encounter - Super Smash Bros. Brawl**

The Tyrogue dropped the bag it was carrying and brought his left leg one step forward. It then brought up his arms and got into the stance of a boxer.

Meanwhile, my friends began to fight the grass-type.

"Kickboxing?" I asked with a smile.

He just responded with a growl.

Though something about his stance was familiar. I knew what a kickboxer looked like, but that the little pokemon was mimicking one brought up a familiar feeling.

When the pokemon's eyes met mine, something strange happened.

I seemed like my eyes deceived me for a second when a black flickering figure flashed into my vision where the Tyrogue was standing.

A short jolt of pain shot through my head and made me lose my focus.

My enemy saw his chance and dashed forward. When I was able to pay attention again, he was already right in front of me.

The pokemon threw his hands against my ears, disorienting me. Fake Out.

When I opened my eyes again, instinct told me to make a move and go for a counter. However, my body simply didn't respond and left me wide open to another attack from the Tyrogue.

The fighting-type quickly took one step back, pulled his right fist back and readied a punch. I could tell by his eyes that he was aiming for my face.

I closed my eyes, awaiting the inevitable.

His punch made a direct hit with the left side of my face. The force pushed me back and made me take a step back.

I bit trough the pain, opened my eyes again and readied my left fist to deliver a counter. When I shot forward, something strange happened.

My attack was so fast, that my opponent couldn't even react.

'I'm not even using Extremespeed.'

I pushed the thought back and focused on the fight again.

The punch made contact with his face and made him stumble back. I didn't stop there and went for another punch. And another one. And another one.

I was moving so fast that the fighting-type wasn't able to see any of them coming.

When the Tyrogue was finally able to make out the gap between my attacks, he dashed forward and went for another blow with his right fist.

I used my left paw to divert his arm downwards and threw my right fist into his face to counter.

He stumbled back a few steps and held his nose with his right hand.

I immediately dashed towards him and delivered one final round-house kick to his chest.

The Tyrogue was sent flying and landed on his back, unconscious.

I gave my now defeated enemy one last smirk before I looked over to my still fighting friends.

Ozu had a type advantage, yet they still had trouble with the grass-type.

The Breloom was fast. Ozu's attempts to hit him with a physical move failed. His Ember wasn't able to connect either.

Riley had a similar problem. Using her Irontail attack was ineffective for the same reason Ozu's attacks missed. Speed wise the Breloom was superior to them. Her Thunderbolt was weak against the grass-type and whenever she went for a Quickattack, the Breloom countered with a quick Machpunch, throwing her back again.

'Well, I guess I should help them.' I thought as I focused my aura into my right paw.

I formed a bone in my paw and spun it around a few time before I used Extremespeed to get right behind the grass-type.

Jumping up, I aimed my baton at the back of his head. The blow knocked him out immediately.

**Stop music**

However, while he was falling towards the ground, a cloud of dust was coming out from under his "shroom-cap".

I inhaled some of the dust and had to cough when I landed on my feet.

"Good job." I said to my friends, letting out another cough.

"Thanks..." the Pikachu replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "We couldn't do anything against that guy."

*Cough* "Hey, you tried your best and that's what matters." I continued. "You just have to..." *Cough* "... Work on you speed."

Ozu got worried by my coughing. "Are you okay?" he asked with a concerned face.

"Yea, just some dust." I calmed him down. "We better hurry, that Pidgey is going to warn their boss."

"We still have to tie up those two and send them out of the dungeon." the Chimchar replied, pointing at the now unconscious pokemon.

He pulled out a piece of rope from his backpack and tied it around their hands and feet.

"And how are we going to take them out of here?" I asked.

"With our badges of course!" he answered, pulling out his explorer-badge.

When he held towards the criminals, the emblem in his hand started to glow in a bright light. Their bodies began to glow too and all of a sudden, they were gone.

"Wow, what was that?" I asked, surprised by what he had just done.

"The badge let's you teleport out pokemon from the dungeon. Those two are in front of the opening we entered the dungeon. When we finish our mission, we can use our badges on ourselves and bring those bandits to Magnezone." he explained.

Another cough escape my mouth. "Wow."

* * *

We continued our exploration and cleared another couple of floors.

But something was off. My coughing stayed and got joined by a burning pain in my chest. With every floor it got worse. I felt weak in general and when my vision got blurry, I had to stop my friends.

"Hey... Something is wrong." I panted weakly.

They turned around and walked up to me immediately.

"What's wrong, Ri?" Riley asked with a concerned voice.

Just then I had to cough again. I held my paw up to cover my mouth. My eyes widened when I saw that a few droplets of blood covered my hand now.

"By Arceus! Ri! Don't move!" Ozu grabbed my shoulder and inspected me.

"What...?" I tried to ask, but he interrupted me by putting his hand on my forehead.

"Oh, no. You have a fever. That Breloom probably poisoned you with its Effect Spore." he explained, turning around and looking for something in his backpack.

I had to take a breath before I could speak again. "Effect Spore?" I asked, letting out another cough.

The fire-type pulled out a Persim berry and handed it to me.

"Thank you." I said weakly, before I bit down on it.

The burning in my chest stopped almost immediately, but I still felt weak and drained.

"Here, take an Oran berry." Riley said, holding the blue berry to me.

I ate that one too... However, the usual effect of the berry never came.

...

"Do you feel better?" Ozu asked, his voice still full of concern.

"No... I ate an Oran berry before. I guess I still have to wait for the last one to digest." I replied, shaking my head.

"That's bad. You can't fight in this state." he said with a serious face.

"Hey, we can't give up now! We are almost through the dungeon. I will just let you handle the wild pokemon and rest a bit." I refused.

"That's the spirit!" Riley commented with a smile. "We started this mission, so we finish it."

"Okay... But promise that you won't do anything reckless when we fight the bandit chief." Ozu ordered.

* * *

We cleared the rest of the dungeon pretty quick.

When we left the dungeon, we found ourselves in a forest full of apple trees.

I was just about to ask where we should look for the hideout, when a voice pulled our attention towards it.

"Look what we have here..." a male voice said. "Another team of explorers that thinks it could arrest me."

The owner of the voice revealed his identity when a Pancham walked out from behind a tree. He was holding a rose in his right paw.

"I'm Caz the Casanova! Bandit chief and self-proclaimed lady-killer!" he exclaimed with a poetic smile, smelling the flower. 'He can't be serious.'

We got ourselves ready to fight.

"Only one girl in your group... What a pity." he said as he threw the rose towards Riley. She caught it with her right paw, looking at it with a confused expression.

"I'm a girl too!" I yelled, feeling offended. 'Who does this guy think he is?!'

...

The Pancham blinked and gave me a close look.

"Are you sure?... Well, this doesn't change anything! Caz the Casanova would never associate himself with a Tomboy like you anyway." he taunted in a nasty tone.

'He did NOT just say Tomboy.'

That word made me lose it somehow.

"T... TOMBOY?", I asked with a trembling eyebrow and a grin on my face that said "Are you kidding me?".

My friends had to hold me back while I tried to run up to him and choke him. I cursed at the smirking Pancham in every way possible.

It took me a while before I calmed down again.

"What did I say? A real lady would never use such words." he continued to taunt me.

"Argh! Just shut up!" I yelled. Struggling against my friends cost me some energy and left me panting again.

"Can we just fight already?!" Riley said as she took one step forward and threw the rose on the ground. "I'm getting sick of you, offending my friend!"

"Take it easy, Ri. We will handle him." Ozu added, grabbing my shoulder and walking past me.

"Not in a million years! This guy is mine!" I exclaimed, running past my two friends and towards the Pancham.

"I've heard that from a lot of girls before. Not in that context though." The fighting-type smirked before dashed forward too.

My eyes focused on the Pancham's fist when he pulled it back to prepare a punch.

I wanted to divert his attack with my hand, but doing so turned out to be very difficult. The Poison had done its work and left me weak and drained. My body wasn't strong enough to properly execute the orders from my brain.

The fighting-type's fist went right through my defenses and hit me in the face. He followed up with a kick to my stomach and threw me back.

A groan escaped my mouth when I landed painfully on my back.

My friends ran right past me and prepared their attacks.

Ozu covered his right arm with fire and pulled it back, ready to throw it at the Pancham, while Riley used Irontail and spun her body around to strengthen the force from her attack.

Their target jumped back and dodged both of their attacks. Ozu's fist made contact with the grounds and shot off a wave of flames around him.

Riley had to dig her feet and hands into the ground to slow down the momentum from her spin.

The Pancham quickly dashed to Riley's side and pushed her into Ozu with a powerful kick to the Pikachu's face.

Both of them got thrown back and landed on top of each other.

The outlaw didn't have time to smirk. I had already gotten up again and used Extremespeed to get in close. My vision became a little blurry when I reached my destination.

I ignored the exhaustion, put my right paw on his chest and concentrated the little aura I still had left into it.

His eyes widened when he began to feel the pressure from the emitting aura.

My Force Palm attack sent the Pancham flying with a loud blast.

He let out a scream of pain while he rolled backwards. When he finally stopped he was kneeling on the ground, holding his chest with his paw.

He took a deep breath, got back to his feet and got on his poetic smirk again.

"I changed my mind. You might be a tomboy but I like strong women. Consider my next move a gift." he said with a mischivious grin.

I could only respond with a growl, my body was still recovering from my last move.

My friends had just gotten up again and began to walk next to me when the Pancham suddenly dashed in front of my face.

I gasped when the Pokemon's eyes me mine. His look told me what he was about to do. 'Please don't.'

A pink heart formed in front of his now winking eye. 'Attract.'

The heart flew directly into my face and shattered when it made contact. I was afraid at first but when I didn't feel anything change, a smirk formed my face.

"Ri!" Ozu screamed from behind me. "Are you okay!?"

I turned around and gave him a confused look. "Why wouldn't I?"

My friends had shocked expressions on their faces for some reason.

I turned around to faced the Pancham again. He gave me his romantic smirk again.

He had a charming look in his eyes, which made blush for some reason. 'Why haven't I noticed them before? And... Wow. He looks really strong. I bet he trains a lot.'

Taking one step closer to him, I heard a voice behind me.

"Ri! Snap out of it! It's his Attract! Whatever you're seeing, it's not real!" it said. However, I didn't pay any attention to it.

All I wanted was to look at this handsome Pancham in front of me.

"Hey, do you work out?" I asked him, taking another step towards him. When I looked at his mouth, an idea formed in my head. It made me blush even more than I already was.

He knew exactly what I was thinking and brought his arm to my hip. He then pulled me up to him, our faces almost touching each other.

He held my chin with his other paw before he brought his lips towards mine. I didn't resist and closed my eyes.

...

Our lips touched and...

...

'What the fuck?!' I screamed in my head when I realized what I was doing.

My eyes shot open and I pushed the fighting type away from me. "What the fuck!" I yelled at him, still confused how it could have happened.

"Ri! You're back!" my friends said, walking next to me.

We looked at the still smirking Pancham. "Did you like it?" he taunted.

"No, god dammit! I just kissed a god damn panda!" I yelled gritting my teeth.

I could hear Ozu mumble something under his breath, but I had something else to worry about.

"... Well, I'm satisfied." he exclaimed with a laugh.

I wanted to run up to him and punch his face in, but my body was completely drained by now.

The Pikachu next to me noticed my panting and growling.

"I'll finish him." Riley said, taking one step forward.

"Riley, don't! He will get you too!" Ozu tried to stop her.

"His trick might work on a normal Pokemon, but... I'm not exactly normal." she replied, giving the Chimchar a smirk.

"Oh, a volunteer!" the Pancham smirked.

I knew immediately what she was trying to say. 'Wait! If it worked on me...'

"Riley, don't! It won't work!" I tried to stop her, but she was already running towards the Pancham, her fist covered in electricity.

The fighting-type winked at her and a pink heart flew into her face.

'This is it.'

...

My eyes widened, when she ran right through the little shattered hearts and threw her Thunder Punch into her opponents stomach.

"What?!" He screamed, when Riley's attack made contact.

The Pancham flew backwards and landed on his back. His belly had a scorched mark on it.

"I guess... You're not the tomboy here." he called over to me weakly. He then gave Riley one last smirk before he fainted.

I couldn't believe what I had just seen. "What the? Why didn't it affect you?" I asked, walking over to her.

She blinked at me. "I'm a human, remember?" she answered with a confused look on her face.

"I know, but..." I stopped there. 'God dammit. I can't tell her... I'm a human too, so why did his Attract work on me?'

"Uhm... Forget it..." I finished, breaking eye contact.

Ozu came over to us too.

"We did it." he said with a smile.

* * *

"Hey, what about the Pidgey?" Riley asked, looking around the forest.

"He's probably long gone... Our mission was to capture their chief anyway." Ozu replied.

He then looked over to me. "You should try an Oran berry again. I don't think you can make it back to the guild in that condition."

I nodded and pulled a blue berry out from my pouch. I swallowed it whole and felt better immediately. The weakness and drained feeling had faded and the pain on my face from the Pancham's punch was gone.

"Well, we should get him out of the dungeon and bring them to the guild." Ozu continued, pulling out his badge.

This time he held it above his head and the light engulfed all of us.

My vision went white and the next thing I saw was a clearing in a forest with a tied up Tyrogue and Breloom laying on the ground. It was late afternoon by now.

Ozu pulled out another piece of rope and tied it around the unconscious Pancham's hands and feet which had teleported with us.

"Okay, to warp them back to the guild, we need to use all of our badges." the Chimchar explained.

Riley and I pulled out our badges from our "hip-pouches".

"Now everyone has to touch one of the outlaws and press the button in the middle." he finished, walking over to the Breloom.

I looked at my badge. In the middle of it was something like a gemstone... Assuming that it was the button he talked about, I went over to the Tyrogue, touched him and pressed the stone.

* * *

A bright light engulfed me and I found myself teleported again. This time, the badge brought me to to the crossroad between the guild and treasure town. I was right in front of the staircase.

My friends followed shortly after. "That's amazing!" I commented, putting my badge back.

We carried the unconscious outlaws up the stairs and brought them down onto the first floor of the guild.

"Hey, Ri... We will handle the formality's with Magnezone. You can go to Chimecho and check if the poison is really gone." Ozu ordered in a serious face.

I wanted to resist at first, but nodded in understanding when I saw the concern in his eyes.

I put the Tyrogue on the ground and climbed down to the second floor.

Just when I was about to knock onto the door of the infirmary, it opened and Chimecho floated out of it.

"Oh! Hi there, Ri." she greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, could you do check on me?" I explained. "I got poisoned today and my friends wanted me to make sure that all of it is gone."

"Sure thing." she replied as her eyes began to glow again and she used her "diagnosis-power".

"Well, I can't find any poison in your system... You're good to go!" she explained with a smile.

"Thanks!" I returned the smile.

"Um... I'm kind of late to prepare dinner... Could you help me with it?" she asked with a pleading voice.

"No problem!" I answered, giving her another smile.

We walked into the dinning hall and prepared the dinner for everyone. When we were finished, Chimecho called everyone and Chatot held his usual speech.

After dinner, my friends and I walked back into our room.

* * *

"Whew! What a day!" I said, removing my equipment and placing it on the table.

My friends took of their gear too and sat down onto their beds.

I walked over to mine and jumped in.

"It sure was..." Riley replied.

"Well, how was it with Magnezone?" I asked.

"Oh, he arrested the three of them and gave us our reward. We got two hundred Poke and a few Cheri berries." Ozu answered.

"Wait, two hundred? The letter said two thousand. What happened to the rest of it?" I gave him a confused look.

"Oh, right. You see, we are still apprentices, so we don't get the full amount of the actual reward." he explained.

"Great, just great!" I frowned.

We kept on talking for a while until Ozu decided that we should get some rest again.

I rested my head on the hay and wished my friends a good night.

Before I closed my eyes, I had to think about the strange thing that still bugged me.

'Why did Attract have an effect on me? Maybe because I've gotten used to my Pokemon body. That would be a possibility... Or maybe... No. I have human memories, so I can't be a normal Pokemon. Right? Ugh... I hope that I will get my memories back someday. All this speculating makes my head hurt.'

I closed my eyes and slowly drifted into sleep, hoping that the next day would be a good one.

Little did I know, that it really would be a good day. A really, really good day!

* * *

**End of Chapter - 10**


	11. You look like you've seen a ghost

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 11 - You look like you've seen a ghost  
**

* * *

Loudred's wake-up call was acceptable today somehow.

It didn't disorient and send a ringing into my ears like usual.

Feeling well rested, I hopped out of my bed and prepared myself for the morning briefing.

'Wow, I feel great! With an attitude like that, nothing can go wrong today!'

I had already tied the red cloth around my arm when my friends were taking their first steps out of their beds.

I greeted them with a happy smile. My good mood was infectious and they immediately jumped up and got ready themselves.

We quickly made our way to the main room and ordered ourselves along the other guild members.

Chatot held his morning speech and just like every day, everybody let out the usual cheer.

"HURRAY!"

I was so motivated this morning, that the loudest cheer could be heard from me. It resulted in a few stares from the others but I simply gave them a smile.

They soon walked up the ladder and went on with their daily jobs, leaving only me, Riley, Ozu, Chatot, Loudred and Croagunk in the room.

"Let's do our best today!" I exclaimed, beginning to walk to the ladder myself.

"Now that's what I like to see! A lot of morning pep! Impressive!" Chatot responded to my happy attitude.

My friends were just about to follow me, when Loudred yelled something into the "sentry-hole".

"WHAT?! You can't identify the footprint?!" he screeched in his absurdly loud voice. "What do you MEAN?!"

"I'm trying to tell you!" a voice replied from the hole. It sounded like Diglett. "I can't identify what I don't know!"

We walked up to him to see what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Chatot asked.

"We have a visitor up top whose footprint we can't identify!" the normal-type explained.

"... Hmm? ... Say again? You want to meet the guildmaster?" we heard from the hole.

"Your name is... Dusknoir?!"

...

That name froze me and faded out everything that happened around me.

'Dusknoir?' I repeated in my head, making sure that I really heard the name right.

'Dusknoir... Grovyle's nemesis... Dialga's servant... What am I supposed to do now? What does he want here?!Is he looking for Grovyle?!... Is he...? Is he looking for me?!'

"Hey, Ri." Riley approached me, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? What?"

"Didn't you say that your friend met Dusknoir or something like that?" she asked.

"Uhm... Did I? Well, maybe I will remember something when I see him." I replied, shaking off her question.

...

The rest of the guild members came back down into the main room. Wigglytuff came out of his office and walked up to the ladder, awaiting his visitor.

And then I saw him. The "great" Dusknoir floated down from the opening and approached our guildmaster.

His eye peered through the pokemon around him and when his view met mine, a chill went down my spine.

"Thank you for visiting! What an honor!" Wigglytuff greeted him.

The ghost-type faced him and shook his head. "No, no! Think nothing of it. The honor is all mine."

"There is no greater pleasure than visiting Wigglytuff's Guild. It's famous." he said in a calm voice. It didn't really fit him. He sounded nice actually, nothing like Grovyle had described him.

"What's wrong, Ri?" Riley poked me, noticing my shocked expression. "You look like you have seen a ghost."

When she realized what she just said, she had to chuckle.

I didn't pay much attention to her, my view was looked onto Dusknoir.

"Well, I heard that your guild went on an expedition recently and I wanted to know if it was successful." Dusknoir said, explaining the reason for his visit.

'Just to get some information about the expedition? I don't buy it... Wait... If he knows about the location of the timegears too... That's it! He wants to check if somebody knows something about the timegear!'

"Sadly, no." Wigglytuff replied.

'Huh? It was successful... Why would he lie to him?'

"I see... Well, that must have been quite a disappointment for your guild." the ghost-type responded.

"Yes, that expedition was a waste of time! Didn't learn a thing about anything." the fairy-type explained.

"Oh, that's too bad... Well, at least it gave me an oppertunity to visit you. I plan to stay in Treasure Town for a short while. May I visit you occasionally during my stay? You guild constantly receives the latest news. Good information would be a big help on my explorations" Dusknoir replied.

'Sure, information... He is looking for Grovyle...'

"No problem! Other exploration teams visit us all the time. You're always welcome here!", Wigglytuff said, giving him his usual smile.

The fairy-type then stepped towards the crowd and threw his hands into the air.

"Everyone! This is Dusknoir! He's going to stay here in Treasure Town for a while. Mind yourself around him!" he announced. "Dusknoir is very famous and quite knowledgeable... So I bet everyone would like to get some advice from him. But let's not overdo it! We don't want to be a nuisance!"

Chatot also took one step forward. "Now everyone, our guest might be famous... But don't embarrass us by asking him for autographs!"

"Oh, please! Autograph's are no problem for me, really!", the ghost-type laughed. "But you exaggerated a bit on the information part. I'm not omniscient but I'm happy to help you if it's within my reach!"

A few of the other guild members gave him an applause.

"Come now, everyone! You are dismissed!" Chatot calmed them down.

"Well, I think I'm going to check out Treasure Town. If you find me, don't hesitate to approach me!" Dusknoir said, floating up to the hole.

"Bye, friend!" Wigglytuff waved at him.

'He... Isn't looking for me. That's good. Okay, now I've got another problem to worry about... Wait... I can't tell my friends the truth as long as he is around! Dammit! I have to keep am eye on him...'

While I was caught up in my thoughts, the other guild members slowly got back to their daily routines. Only me and my friends stayed where we were. Ozu had to grab my shoulder to pull me out of my trance.

"And?" he asked with an expectant face. "Did you remember something?"

"Uhm... no." I said, giving him a sad look. Just then I noticed that the goggles on his forehead were missing.

"Hey, where are your goggles?" I asked, pointing at his head.

The Chimchar touched his empty forehead. "Oh, they are still in our room. Hang on a second, I'll get them really quick." he replied, dashing towards the sleeping quarters.

This left Riley and me for ourselves.

"Hey... I've seen how you looked at him. You did remember something, didn't you?" the Pikachu asked with a serious voice.

"Uhm... I'm sorry... It's just... Ugh, I can't tell you. Not yet." I answered with a sad voice.

"Hey, we can't help you if you keep secrets from us. Come on... Aren't we friends?" she said, grabbing my shoulder.

I looked into her eyes. They had something in them that I hadn't seen for quite some time... She trusted me again.

'Dammit! Why does he have to show up right now? I can't tell her, she would probably confront Dusknoir and I don't want to put her in any danger. If he finds out that she is the real Riley... No, I have to protect her.' I thought, biting my lip.

"Riley... I... I'm... Just be careful around Dusknoir. Okay?" I finally replied.

She gave me a confused look. "Why? He seemed nice. What's wrong with him?"

'Ugh... I can't tell her about him but I want to return her somehow. If she really trusts me... Maybe I should finally tell her. She wouldn't have to be the only human in this strange world anymore.'

"Some people aren't who they seem to be... We both should know that the best of all." I said with a smirk.

She was completely perplexed now.

Just when she was about to ask what all of this was about, Ozu came out of the hallway and approached us. He had a piece of paper in his hand.

"Hey, look what I found!" he said, showing us the piece of paper. "It was laying under the hay of my bed. I found it when I looked for my goggles."

It was a wrinkled sheet of paper with the word "HELLO" inscribed on it.

'What the?! I thought I had cleaned away all of the papers! How did I miss exactly this one?... Well, I doesn't matter now anyway. I will tell them.'

"There are some strange symbols on it." the fire-type said, pointing at them with his finger.

"Hello?" Riley read out loud.

"Hello? Is that what stands there?" Ozu asked her with a confused expression.

"This is English... Human language. But I don't remember writing this." she answered, getting even more confused.

"Oh, that's mine." I said, grabbing it.

The Pikachu's eyes shot open and focused on me. Ozu had a shocked expression on his face too.

"Wait! With both of us... Y... You meant..." Riley stuttered.

I gave her a smile, put the paper into my pouch and walked towards the ladder. "Come on, I will tell you more on our mission."

They Pikachu probably wanted to bombard me with questions, but there weren't many I could answer.

I jumped up to the first floor, rather than climbing. My friends quickly gave follow.

This time I decided to take a job from the normal bulletin board.

"Ri! Talk to me!" Riley yelled, getting off from the ladder. She received a few stares from the other guild members that were present.

"Calm down, god dammit! I will tell you everything I can later." I hushed her down.

I looked back at the bulletin board. "Hey, maybe we should do a short mission today. I kind of want to train at Marowak's Dojo later." I said, rubbing my chin with my paw.

The Pikachu looked like she wanted to yell at me again but luckily kept her voice down.

Just then Ozu walked next to me and grabbed a mission from the board.

"Here, this is a quick observation-mission. We just have to explore Beach Cave and check if the dungeon conjures any new kind of Pokemon." he explained. "It's right by the beach and the dungeon only has five floors. We should be done within three hours."

"Beach Cave it us." I replied, heading for the exit.

* * *

While we walked down the beach, not a single word was spoken.

When we arrived, I turned around, closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yup... I'm human too." I said, keeping my eyes closed.

"I had my suspicions." Ozu replied.

I opened my eyes again. "What? How?"

"Well, you don't talk like a normal Pokemon. Those foreign curse words from you were strange too. I've only heard them from Riley before so all of it seemed very strange to me." he explained. "And when I found that writing I was almost sure. I haven't seen Riley write something before, so the only one it could have come from was you."

"Almost?", I asked.

"A little event threw me off. Yesterday when you got hit by Attract and were affected like any normal Pokemon. When Riley got hit, nothing happened. That really confused me. But the way you screamed at the Pancham after it happened strengthened my presumption again." he continued.

"Yea, that was strange for me too... But it probably happened because I've gotten used to my Pokemon body. Well, now that you know..." I replied, grabbing their shoulders and pulling them close to me.

"Don't tell anyone." I said in a serious voice. "Nobody can know about this. I trust you so please, don't disappoint me."

They nodded and I took my hand off their shoulder.

"Now, Riley. I know you have a ton of question, but I've got the same problem as you. I don't remember anything about my human life." I said, facing the Pikachu.

"I... Maybe our transformations are connected somehow. Please, you told us that there are some things you remembered... Tell me! Maybe they have something to do with my past!" she pleaded.

I let out a sigh. 'What am I supposed to tell her? I can't tell her about Grovyle. Not now. If Dusknoir finds out, we are in trouble. That I told her that I'm human too gained me a lot of trust but I think it's still too early to tell them about the future...'

"I'm sorry... But that I'm a human is the only thing I can let you know for now. I don't think our transformations are connected though... And memory wise... The only thing I remember about being human is that I trained Martial Arts..." I explained in a sad voice.

"Ri... Please..." she was persistent, but I had to reject her.

"Come on, Ri! Wouldn't you want to get every clue about your past too?" Ozu threw in.

"Trust me... There is a reason for my silence... When the time is right, I will tell you everything I know." I said, turning around and heading towards the cave entrance at the other end of the beach.

They hesitated for a moment but then followed me.

* * *

We entered the dungeon and began our observation mission. On the mission letter was a list of Pokemon. If we found a Pokemon that was not on the list, we would have to record our finding.

This time, Riley didn't want to lead our team. I guessed that she was kind of depressed. I got her hopes up and ruined them shortly after.

The dungeon was inhabited mostly by water and rock-types.

I took the lead and trained my Force Palm on most of the rock-type Pokemon. Any water-type I came across got knocked out by a swift series of punches and kicks.

I didn't use my bones like usual... I wanted to refine the Gavylian-style with Marowak before I used them as my main offensive strategy again. If it really was meant to kill somebody, I could accidentally cause some fatal injuries with one of Grovyle's movements. I knew that the Pokemon in the dungeon only were fake but I they looked like real ones, putting a blockade in my mind.

Riley wasn't really motivated to fight, so Ozu and I had to handle most of the wild Pokemon.

We cleared the dungeon pretty quickly... The Pokemon weren't really strong and the layout of the floors wasn't complicated like in the other ones I had been before.

There was no new Pokemon we could add to the list, so we assumed that nothing had changed in the dungeon.

After we reached the deepest point of the cave, Ozu held up his badge, teleporting us back to the beach.

"Whew..." I exclaimed after my vision was free from the white light.

We were back at the beach. It was probably noon by now.

"Hey, Ri..." Riley approached me. She was looking at the ground, not making any eye contact.

"You said that you would like to battle us sometime, remember?" she asked, still not raising her head. "Well, I would like to have one right now... If I lose, I will never bother you with any questions again... But..."

The electric-type rose her head. "If I win, you are going to tell me everything!"

I was really surprised by her request, but when I saw the determination in her eyes, I immediately made my decision.

'It isn't smart to do this... But I won't reject her challenge. If she thinks she can beat me... Well... Maybe she has some strategy... Okay, I'm excited for this fight!'

"Whoa, Riley! Are you sure about this?" Ozu was surprised too. "Please, don't do this. She said that she will tell us someday, there's no need to fight about it!"

"I accept your challenge." I said, creating some distance between us with a jump.

"Hey, we are a team! We shouldn't fight with each other!" the Chimchar tried to stop us.

"Ozu, this is something I have to do. If this is the way to get her to talk, then so be it." Riley responded to the fire-types pleads.

"Ozu!" I called over to him, getting into my battle pose. "Don't worry, this is a fair match between friends! Please be out referee!"

The Chimchar hesitated for a bit, before he walked out of the way.

Riley tensed up and let a few sparks fly off from her cheeks.

"Riley! Remember that I have to lose something here! I'm not going to hold back." I yelled before I indicated Ozu to start our battle.

He gave both of us one last concerned look before he announced the start of our match.

"This is a match between, Riley and Ri!" he shouted.

"GO!"

I decided to stay defensive for now and focused my view on the Pikachu, ready to anticipate any move it would use.

White streams of energy began to build up around her. 'Quickattack... Hmph.'

Riley dashed at me with a great amount of speed, but my senses were able to keep up with her, making me able to ready a counter attack, should she decide to hit me straight on.

She shot her body up from the ground, trying to tackle me with her enhanced speed.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on Extremespeed. When I opened them again, the Pikachu was flying through the air in slow-motion.

I stepped to the right, getting out of the line of fire from her attack.

When she was in reach, I put my left paw onto her side and focused my aura into it.

Extremespeed ended when I let my Force Palm loose and the Pikachu was thrown towards the sea with a scream of pain.

She landed in the salt-water and struggled to get up again. The water level wasn't high, only going up to her underbelly. Though the impact with the water completely drenched her.

She was holding her side and struggled to get out of the sea.

"Riley!" Ozu screamed from behind me.

Riley had her left eye closed and was constantly trying to spit out the salty water that had gotten into her mouth.

'Ugh... Already? I don't think she can fight any longer without hurting herself... I have to stop this.'

I slowly walked up to the water and held my right hand out to her. "I'm sorry, but I already told you... I will tell you when the time is right..."

She was gritting her teeth as she took one step closer to me and grabbed my paw with her left one.

Suddenly a wave of pain rushed through my body. All of my muscles were twitching as the Pikachu shocked me with a Thunderbolt.

That I was standing in the water, only strengthened her attack.

A scream of pain escaped my mouth as I tried to let go of her hand.

"Why can't you just tell me?!" she yelled at me, intensifying the bolts.

I bit through the pain and looked into her eyes.

"I want to protect you, God dammit!" I screamed back, using all of my power to throw a punch into her face.

The blow connected and sent her down into the salt-water. The stream of electricity ended and I was finally able to let go of her.

My body was covered in burns and scorches. Streams of smoke were coming from the burn marks. There was pain all over my body and I panted, holding my right paw with my left one.

I looked at the Pikachu who was pushing up her body with her arms. Her cheek was red and swollen. She had tears in her eyes and gave me a look of defeat.

"Why..." Riley tried to say, but she burst out in tears and slammed her fist into the water.

Ozu came up behind me. I turned around and saw a sad look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

When I wanted to answer him, I realized that his question wasn't meant for me.

The fire-type stepped into the water and put his hand on his partner's shoulder.

"Y...yes." Riley sobbed.

"I'm sorry." I said, grabbing an Oran berry from my pouch.

We got out of the water and sat down on the sand.

Riley's eyes were still red but she had calmed down.

The Pikachu and I were healed up again, though I still felt a little stinging from the burns.

"Hey... I'm sorry, Ri. I shouldn't have done that to you." she said in a sad voice, looking at the darker spots on my fur.

"Forget about it..." I replied, shaking my head.

"Well, yea... It was a mean trick, but tricks were the only thing that could work on me. You have to work on your speed if you want to counter my Extremespeed." I continued, giving her a grin. "My offer is still open! You can visit Marowak with me, if you want to train... We can have a rematch too!"

"Same rules." I winked at her.

She didn't know how to respond.

"You did say that you would never ask me about my past again if you lost, but that doesn't mean you can't try again." I said, giving her a warm smile.

"Thank you..." she replied, returning my smile.

"And Ozu..." I continued, facing the Chimchar. "You should work on you speed too. Your fire attacks might be strong, but strength alone won't help you in a battle."

He nodded before he got up from the ground. "We should head back to the guild... We still have to hand in our report."

The Pikachu and I followed his suggestion and got up. We then headed back to the guild.

* * *

We just came to the crossroad when I saw him again.

Dusknoir came up the stairway from Spinda's café. We still had quite some distance between us but when his eye met mine, I froze for a second.

The ghost-type slowly floated towards the main square of Treasure Town.

When he was finally out of my sight, I let out a sigh.

'I have to watch out for him. He's probably asking around if somebody has seen a Grovyle... or a human. I should spy on him... Just to make sure if that's really what he's doing here...'

"What's wrong, Ri? You're always so absent when you see Dusknoir." Riley said, poking my arm.

"Oh... It's nothing. Really." I replied, giving her a forced smile.

We were just about to walk up the stair when I decided that I would execute my plan.

"Hey, I've got some business to do at Marowak's Dojo. Can you two handle the formalities from the mission?" I said, turning around. "We can meet up there later."

"What do you..." Ozu began to ask but I was already running towards the road, leading to the town.

"Thanks!" I called back to them before I disappeared from their sight.

* * *

**BGM: "We'd best prepare for combat, just to be safe" - Fire Emblem Awakening**

I could see the ghost Pokemon in the distance and got closer, giving me a better view on him.

On the sides of the road were a few bushes, so I used them for cover. Dashing from bush to bush I always looked out that I wouldn't get too close to him.

He talked to a few explorers who were walking into the direction, we were coming from.

A few of them asked him for autograph's and some other simply had a little chat with him.

I wasn't able to understand what they were saying though.

He then made his way to Duskull Bank. Dusknoir greeted the other ghost-type and "walked" onto the main square. A few Pokemon crowded around him, occupying my view.

'Dammit... I have to get a better point if view.'

Just the I realized that I was in a bush next to Marowak's Dojo. I walked behind the building, to stay out of Dusknoir's sight. With a high leap, I jumped on its rooftop.

The feathers, decorating the Dojo, were a great cover for me. I pushed them aside, put my head in between them and regained my vision on my target.

The crowd around him cheered and demanded more autograph's from him. It took him a couple of minutes before he was able to finish all of their requests but when he was done, the ghost-type floated towards the next part of town.

I quickly jumped down from the roof, back into another bush. Luckily, nobody present at the square noticed me.

When Dusknoir had crossed the bridge I quickly dashed over the main square and jumped into yet another bush, which was near Kecleon's Shop.

The ghost-type approached the brothers, asking them something about their goods.

After they were finished, Dusknoir said goodbye to them and strangely, headed behind their tent, getting out of my view again.

Just when I walked out of my hiding spot, I heard a voice from behind me.

"Is there a reason you are following me?" a deep voice whispered into my ear.

**Stop music**

* * *

"AAAAAAHHH!" I screamed, as I quickly turned around to see its owner.

Dusknoir was suddenly behind me, giving me a soul piercing look with his eye.

'Dammit! How did he notice me?!'

"Oh, uhm... Sorry." I said nervously, as sweat was staring to form on my forehead.

'Come on! I need a reason I can tell him... Wait... I know!'

"It's just... I'm a huge fan of you and I wanted to get an autograph!" I said with a forced smile.

"Well, that's still not a reason to spy on me like that... Wait, aren't you that Riolu from the guild?" he asked, his look turning "normal" again.

"Yes, I am... Chatot said we shouldn't ask you for autograph's so I wanted to ask you when you were alone... I would get in trouble if somebody from the guild would see me..." I explained, keeping up my act.

"Oh, I see... Well, I don't see anyone from the guild around here so I can give you one right now. Do you have a piece of paper?" he asked, pulling out a pen from the mouth on his belly.

Just them I remembered the sheet that was in my pouch.

'I have one... But... What if he knows human writing? Ugh... What now? Asking him for an autograph without any paper would be weird... Hmm...'

I put an embarrassed face on and rubbed the back of my head.

"I think I've left the papers at the guild... Uhm... I could get them really quick or I could just look for you tomorrow again..." I said, taking a few steps back towards the main square.

"There's a piece of paper hanging out from that pouch of yours... Let's just use that one..." the ghost-type said, pointing at my right pouch.

He was right. The paper was sticking out a bit.

'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'

I hesitated a bit before I pulled the wrinkled sheet out.

The ghost-type quickly grabbed it out of my hand and brought his pen onto it.

When he inspected the paper, he sweatdropped.

"Did you crumble it up and unfold it again? And there is already something written on it..." Dusknoir brought the paper closer to his eye. "Is this some kind of drawing?"

"Uhm, yes... I got bored one day and decided to make a few scribbles..." I said, even more nervous than before.

"Well, I'll use it anyway." he said as he wrote his name under the "HELLO" in footprint runes.

"And your name is?" he asked, looking at me again.

"Uhm... Ri!" I quickly answered.

The ghost-type looked confused all of a sudden. "Just, Ri?"

"Yes!" I confirmed.

He finished his autograph and handed the paper back to me.

"Thank you! I have to go back to the guild now... See ya!" I said running towards the main square, the piece of paper still in my paw.

"Goodbye." I heard behind me.

* * *

Back at the main square, I stopped on the crossway to Marowak's Dojo.

'Whew... That was close... Dammit! That could have gone much worse. It doesn't look like he knows human writing... I should probably just keep my distance to him. If I act suspicious around him...'

"Ri! There you are!" I heard Ozu's voice coming from the road, leading to the dojo.

My friends approached me.

"Where have you been? Marowak said you haven't visited him yet." Riley asked with a concerned face.

"Uhm..." I tried to say something but my brain wasn't able to think of an excuse.

"What is that paper in your hand?" Ozu asked, pointing at my paw.

I was still holding Dusknoir autograph in my hand. 'Ugh... They will know that I talked with Dusknoir if I show it to them... Well, he has seen it so...'

"Oh, this? It's an autograph from Dusknoir." I explained, showing it to them. "He was giving some autograph's to some other explorers when I came to the main square... I kind of wanted one too, so I followed him to Kecleon's Shop..."

The Pikachu gave me a confused look. "What was all that "being careful around him" about then?"

"Well, I had a little chat with him and he turned out to be quite nice actually..." I said nervously.

...

"Uhm... So do you two want to train or...?" I asked them, putting the paper back into my pouch.

They looked at each other before they nodded.

We walked to the dojo's front door and knocked onto it.

Just like usual, Marowak slammed it open immediately.

"Oh! Hello, Ri! I haven't seen you in a while... Come in!" he greeted me.

My friends and I walked into the dojo and the ground-type closed the door behind us.

"So you brought your friends this time... What kind of training would you like to do today?" he asked us.

"Hmm... I'm not sure... But there is a question I would like to ask you." I replied. "What speed enhancing moves do you know?"

The ground-type blinked. "Speed enhancing moves? You already know how to use Extremespeed and that is the best move you can get when it's about speed."

"No, no, no. I don't want to learn another move, but I my friends do." I explained, shaking my head.

"We do?" Ozu asked with a concerned face.

"Sure!" Riley answered for me.

I turned to her and gave her a grin. "That's the spirit!"

"Can you help them with that?" I asked, facing Marowak again.

He gave me a confused look. "What about your new style? You wanted to work on that last time..."

"Well, my friends come first. I will just train on the punching bags in the meantime." I said, giving my friends a smile.

"...Uhm... Okay! Come with me then." he replied, indicating my friends to follow them.

He lead them to the training field. "Okay, we are going to do some basic stamina training at first. Your moves won't be very effective if you're not able to keep up the speed."

I walked to the punching bags, which were hanging at the side of the field.

Marowak made my friends do some squats and other exercises. 'He wants to strengthen they leg muscles... Hmm... Maybe I should work on mine too...'

I watched their training for a while. Ozu didn't have a very happy expression on his face... But Riley on the other hand... She had her eyes focused on me all the time, giving me a determined look.

'Heh, she really wants to win that rematch... I better start training myself or I might fall behind!'. A chuckle escaped my mouth.

I faced the punching bag behind me and got into my battle pose.

* * *

We had trained for about four hours when Ozu collapsed onto the floor.

"Can't... handle... any... more!" he panted.

"Come on! We can do this!" the Pikachu next to him said, starting another set of squats.

"No... I'm... done..." he continued, trying to catch his breath.

I was just done with a set of push-ups and decided that it was enough for that day.

"Hey, I'm done with my training too... Let's grab a drink from Spinda's cafe and get some dinner later." I suggested.

"I... would... love... to do... that!" Ozu replied, as he slowly got on his feet again.

"I'm not finished yet." Riley said, doing another squat. "You can go without me... I'll meet you at dinner."

"Are you sure?" the Chimchar asked his partner.

"Yeah, go!" It sounded almost like an order.

Ozu and I said goodbye to Marowak and left the dojo.

* * *

"I can't understand how you fighting-types can keep up with this..." he moaned. "My legs feel like bricks."

"Says the future Infernape." I chuckled.

"Well, probably a far away future..." he replied with a serious face. "Nobody has been able to evolve for quite some time now..."

"What? Why?" I asked.

"You see, there is something wrong with the Time Gears... That somehow hinders us from evolving..." he explained in a sad tone. "Have you heard about the disappearance from the Time Gear at Treeshroud Forest?"

"Uhm... Yeah, I heard about it." I answered.

"Most Pokemon think that the thief is the reason that time goes crazy..." he continued.

The fire-type looked at my hand. "And...".

"What?" I asked, getting confused.

"Uhm... It's nothing! Let's grab some drinks!" he said, shaking his head.

He then ran off towards the crossroad.

"Hey, wait for me!" I yelled, following him.

We arrived at the staircase to Spinda's café and entered.

The café was crowded with explorers. A lot of them were talking about their missions and which dungeons they had explored.

Ozu and I went over to the bar.

"Hello, Spinda!" I greeted the normal-type behind the counter.

"Oh, it's you! I haven't seen you in a while... Been sick or something?" he replied.

"Something like that." I said nervously. 'More like grounded...'

"And you brought a friend too...Hi, there!" he greeted the Chimchar behind me.

"Hello!" Ozu returned.

The normal-type gave us a thoughtful look. "You two look like you've had some training... If you're here for a drink, I would recommend my Prow berry shake!"

"Prow berries? I've never heard of a berry like that." the fire-type behind me responded.

"A Prow berry doesn't have any real use for explorers. They have a lot of proteins in them, making them an ideal snack after a work-out." I explained.

I blinked. 'Well, I probably worked out a lot before...'

"Oh, okay... How much?" Ozu asked the Spinda behind the counter, pulling out a little bag of money from his backpack.

"Twenty five Poke each." Spinda answered.

"Okay, here you go." the Chimchar said, giving the normal-type his money.

In a matter of seconds we had two glasses with a white liquid inside of them, in front of us.

"Thank you!" we said in union, grabbing our drinks.

"Cheers!" I called over to my friend, holding out my glass to him.

Ozu pushed his glass against mine and we gulped down our shakes.

It was... good. Somewhere in my mind, I had a bad image on protein shakes, but this one actually tasted good.

We put our empty glasses back on the bar and thanked Spinda again.

"Hey... Uhm... Ri, was it? If you want to work on Own Tempo again, you can come to my café tomorrow. We have to stock up on wares, so were closed in the afternoon." Spinda offered, putting our glasses behind the counter.

"I'll consider it! See ya!" I said, turning towards the exit.

"Bye!" Ozu added, following me.

We walked out of the café and found ourselves at the crossroad again. The sun was setting so we decided to head into the guild.

"Thank you for paying my shake!" I said, as we walked on the road leading to the stairs in front of the guild.

"That was really gentleman-like from you!" I added with a grin.

The Chimchar turned red a bit. "No, problem!"

We entered the guild and made our way to our room. After taking off our gear, we decided to head back into the main room and wait for our still missing team member.

Chimecho was just about to announce dinner when the electric-type climbed down the ladder.

We greeted each other and she quickly ran into our room taking off her explorer-equipment.

The psychic-type called everyone to dinner and when Riley came back from our room, we headed into the dinning hall.

When I sat down on my seat, a huge pile of apples was already placed on my plate. 'Oh, this again.'

I looked at Loudred who was sitting at the opposite side of the table.

"I haven't eaten all day, you know?" I said with a grin.

"Me NEITHER!" he called back, returning my grin.

This time our showdown turned into a huge event as all the guild members cheered around us.

Just like last time, my opponent and I fell off our seat from supersaturation.

"Sixteen to fifteen! Ri wins!" Ozu announced.

"Next, time!" I said to Loudred with a smile.

Everybody finished dinner and we headed back into our rooms.

I immediately plumped onto my bed.

My friends did the same. "I can feel the soreness in my muscles already." Ozu moaned again.

"Well, that's how you know that you did some good work." I replied.

It was already nighttime and moonlight was shining through our window. Feeling exhausted from our training we decided to sleep.

I was just about to close my eyes when Riley whispered something over to me.

"Pssst... Ri. Are you still awake?" she asked, trying not to wake Ozu up.

"Yes..." I whispered back.

"Do you want to talk about humans?" she asked. "Nothing about your past, just the things we remember about being human."

"Sure, why not?" I replied.

"Well, what else than Martial Arts do you remember?"

"Uhm... I had a short memory shred about a city... and a cellphone."

"Cellphones? Oh, I remember those! You could call other people with them."

"Ugh... The one I had, had some weird name... I can't remember it though..."

"Something else?"

"Nope... Do you remember something?"

"Clothes... I was kind of shocked when I found out that they were missing."

"Haha, me too... But this fur is kind of cozy actually..."

"How can you be so comfortable with this body? I'm still not able to fully control this tail."

"Well, I guess it's easier to get used to being a human-like dog than a huge mouse."

"You might be right... Hmm... I don't remember anything else... Thank you... Good night."

"Good night, Riley."

I closed my eyes and slowly drifted into sleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 11**


	12. Help from a Flicker

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Help from a Flicker  
**

* * *

The next morning I got woken up by a strange noise in our room.

I sat up and looked around. A weak ray of sunlight was shining through our window. 'The sun hasn't even properly risen yet. Ugh... What is this?'

Riley was trying to sneak out of the room and had just opened the door.

"Riley? What are you doing?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes with my paws.

She was startled and jumped a bit.

"Oh, I'm going for a morning jog... Marowak told me it would be good for my training..." she whispered to me.

"Oh, okay..." I replied, still not fully awake. "Have fun."

I rested my head back on the hay and heard her close the door.

The bed was comfortable but somehow I wasn't able to fall asleep again.

I decided to get up and put on my gear.

Ozu was still asleep, so I slowly sneaked out of the room.

When I walked along the hallway, I noticed that all of my muscles were sore. 'Ugh, that training sure did some work... I wonder how Riley is able to go running after that...'

A door to my left opened and Loudred stepped out of it.

"Morning!" I greeted with a smile.

"MORNING!" he said, returning my smile. The normal-type then looked at my belly with a jealous face.

"How can you eat so much and stay that slim?" he asked, rubbing his still blown up stomach.

"Well, a girl has it's secrets..." I said with a grin. 'I have no idea...'

He let out a sigh. "I'm going to do the wake-up calls now... I'll see you at the briefing."

I walked into the main room and waited for the briefing to start. I could hear Loudred's call a few times and after a while, everyone positioned themselves in front of Wigglytuff's office.

Ozu joined me on our usual spot. "Where's Riley?"

"Oh, she went on a morning jog... But she should be back by now... I'm a little worried." I answered, staring nervously at the ladder which lead into the first floor.

Just when Chatot wanted to ask us where our team member was, she jumped down from the hole and ran over to us.

"Sorry!" she said to the flying-type who was looking at her with strict face.

He responded with a sigh and held his morning speech.

"HURRAY!"

The rest of the guild members went onto their daily routines. When we wanted to follow them, Chatot call us over to him.

"Team Ignition. I'd like you to run an errand!" he said, when we approached him.

"An errand?" Ozu asked.

"Yes. Go to Kecleon's Shop and ask the owners if they plan to stock Perfect Apples. The stock of the guild has run low again and it would be nice if we were able to buy them, instead of going to Apple Woods every time." the flying-type explained.

"We'll be right back!" Ozu ensured him as walked towards the ladder.

My friends and I left the guild and made our way to Kecleon's Shop.

"So... How about we do some more training today, instead of doing a mission?" Riley asked us when we passed Marowak's Dojo.

"You really want to beat me, don't you?" I replied, giving her a grin. "Well, I don't have a problem with it... How about you, Ozu?"

The Chimchar frowned. "Yesterday broke me... There's no way I'm gonna do that again today."

We laughed and finally arrived at the market.

I froze when I saw who was standing in front of the counter.

Dusknoir was chatting with the Kecleon brothers when he noticed us.

"Hello, there! You're from the guild right? Oh, and the Riolu from yesterday is here too." he greeted us.

'Ugh... I hope he doesn't ask for their names... If he hears the name Riley, he sure is going to ask her some questions.'

I tensed up... Just in case.

"Yes, were Team Ignition!" Ozu replied with a smile.

Riley was giving me a worried look.

"It's great to meet you. Are you here for some shopping?" he continued.

"No, no. Simply enjoying a chat." the ghost-type explained.

"Well, hello there! What can I do for you?" Verd, the green Kecleon, greeted us.

"Oh, were not here to shop! We came to ask you a question." Ozu said, shaking his head.

The normal-type's expectant face turned into a confused one.

"And what would that question be?" he asked.

"Chatot sent us here to ask if you plan to stock Perfect Apples." the Chimchar explained.

The green Kecleon shook his head. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but we have no plans to stock them."

"Oh, all right. That's too bad. Chatot will be disappointed with this news..." Ozu replied with a sad voice.

All of a sudden we heard a call in the distance.

"Azurill, hurry!" the voice of a boy called.

"Wait for me!" another boy yelled back. This one sounded a bit younger than the first one.

Two blue mouse-like Pokemon were running down the street.

"The Marill and Azurill brothers! Well, hello to you both!" Verd greeted them.

"Marill and Azurill?" I asked Riley in a silent voice.

"Do you remember the story about Drowsy?" she whispered back.

"Oh, so that's them." I nodded in understanding.

"Hi, Kecleon brothers!" the smaller mouse greeted the shopkeepers.

"Oh, and Team Ignition too!" Marill approached us. "And who is this Riolu?"

"Oh, that's Ri. She joined our team recently." Ozu introduced me to them.

"Hi!", I greeted the water-types with a smile.

"What's the rush?" the Chimchar asked them.

"You know how we've been looking for our lost item? The Water Float?" Marill explained.

"A Water Float?" Dusknoir threw in. "Now that's quite the precious item!"

"Someone said they saw it at the beach today!" Azurill exclaimed with an excited voice.

"We're going to look for it today!" Marill added.

Just then I noticed a weird smell in the air. I looked around and tried to find it's source. As soon as I turned around, the smell faded again.

'What was that? Gross...'

"Bye!" the water-types said in union as they dashed towards the main square.

...

"I've never heard of a Water Float..." Verd said, rubbing his chin. "What does it do?"

"A Water Float is an item specifically for Azurill. Only a few of them have been found, so they are extremely rare!" Dusknoir explained.

"Well, we trade with items everyday and we never came across one before... The price you can sell them for must be huge!" Verd replied.

"We should go back to Chatot and bring him the news. Come on!" I said, already turning towards the bridge. 'Just get away from Dusknoir already.'

We said goodbye and hurried back to the guild. 'Whew...'

* * *

"He wasn't mean or anything." Riley poked my arm while we were running.

"Why exactly are we supposed to... Oh, right." she tried to ask but remembered her promise.

We made our way back to the second floor of the guild and approached the guildmaster's office.

Riley knocked onto the door and shortly after, Chatot stepped out of the room.

"And? What did they say?" the flying-type asked.

"Sadly, they don't plan to stock Perfect Apples... Sorry." Ozu answered in a sad voice.

"Oh, no!" Chatot screeched, flapping his wings. "If the guildmaster doesn't get his apples... This is horrible!"

"We could get some apples from Apple Woods..." the Chimchar offered in a low tone.

The Pikachu next to me growled under her breath. 'Right, she wanted to train...'

"What?! You're joking!" he responded with another screech. "Last time I sent you there, you failed utterly!"

Ozu responded with a disappointed look.

"I'm sorry but I can't go through all of this again... I'll just have to get them myself..." Chatot continued.

"Thank you for running the errand... You're dismissed." he finished, jumping onto the window frame next to him.

The bird spread his wing and flew out of the window.

"What now?" I asked, facing my friends again.

"Let's go to Marowak's Dojo. He told me that can actually work on the moves today!" Riley suggested.

"Okay! Let's go!" I cheered, walking towards the ladder again.

Ozu let out a deep sigh before he followed us.

* * *

We were already in Treasure Town again, when Ozu let out another moan. "Do we really have to train again?"

"You can do something else if you don't want to..." Riley responded coldly.

The Chimchar was somewhat hurt by her distant behavior.

I patted him on the back. "Hey, you don't have to train if you don't feel like it... You can pick something up by just watching too. Analyse our movements so you can use the knowledge to your advantage in a fight against us."

"I don't want to fight you." he replied in a sad voice.

"Fighting isn't just about hurting each other... When you fight, you see what your opponent is capable of. It also let's you see your own strengths and weaknesses...", I explained, giving him a warm smile.

My friends were quite impressed by my lecture.

"Who taught you all of this... Martial Art wisdom?" the Chimchar asked.

...

"I... don't know..." I answered, looking at the ground.

'Did I learn all of this in the human world... or later... The only Pokemon I remember was that Hawlucha... Maybe he taught me... Ugh... I really need to get on that other continent Chatot was talking about after all of this...'

We arrived at the Dojo and just like usual, Marowak welcomed us in as soon as we touched the door.

"Already here for part two of your training?" he asked my team members.

"Yes!" Riley answered. Her voice was full of excitement.

Ozu hesitated a bit before he nodded.

He lead my friends on the training field again and began their lesson.

I walked over to the punching bags again and watched their training just like the day before.

"Okay... I'm going to start off with you, Ozu." Marowak said, indicating him to take a step forward.

Both of my friends frowned.

"The move I'm going to teach you is called Flame Charge." the ground-type explained.

"Flame Charge?" I repeated loudly.

...

'... Why does this name sound familiar? I wonder what kind of move this is...'

Marowak gave me a confused look, before he continued. "Yes... It's a fire-type move that enables the user move at a great amount of speed if it's used correctly."

"Are you able to use Flame Wheel?" he asked the fire-type in front of him.

Ozu nodded.

"It uses a similar principle... You can cover yourself with flames that are coming out of your body. Well, did you know that you can also control the force they leave it with?" he explained.

"Let's say you want to dash at someone. You can let the flames stream out of your back and push yourself towards the target." Marowak continued. "Come on, try to create a flame in your hand and let the fire stream out with so much force that it pushes your hand back.

The Chimchar did as told and held his right hand out. He closed his eyes and let a small flame come out of his palm.

"Now put some pressure behind that fire." Marowak instructed.

Ozu struggled at first, but soon the flame didn't just flicker in his hand anymore. A thin stream of flames was emitting from it.

After a while he was able to produce enough force that it was hard for him to hold his arm straight.

"Great! Now try to do the same thing with on your back." his trainer ordered.

Ozu was panting a little, but he shook of the exhaustion and followed the order.

He concentrated and covered his back in flames.

"Okay, now try to run to the other side of the field and push yourself forward with the flames on your back." the ground-type continued.

The next part was hard for Ozu. At first he wasn't able to put pressure behind the fire on his back.

He looked like a monkey that ran in a circle, trying to put out the fire on his back. I had to chuckle to this sight.

After a few tries, he managed to do it. The stream shot out from his back and I could see on his expression that he struggled to stand where he was.

The Chimchar then used the boost while he ran from one side of the field to the other.

"Put more force into it!" Marowak called to him.

Ozu followed his orders again and put everything he could into the flame. The fire grew in size and... pushed him towards the ground.

He landed face first and had a few scratches all over it when he got up again.

"Are you okay?!" Riley ran over to him and checked if he wasn't hurt.

"Ouch..." he said, rubbing his right cheek.

"I'm sorry... I should have told you that you also have to adjust the direction of the flames... If you let them stream out to high up, they will push you downwards, resulting in... Yeah... Try to aim the stream a little bit lower..." Marowak explained. It looked like he was feeling a little guilty for Ozu's fall.

The Pikachu walked back and let the fire-type try again.

Ozu had trouble with the next step. Every time the Chimchar tried, he landed on his face again.

The whole scene was familiar somehow. The fire... The failures... The frustrated expression on his face, every time he got up again.

A jolt of pain rushed trough my head as my eyes seemed to trick me again. Ozu was replaced by the strange black figure I had seen before.

'Ugh... What is this?'

My headache got worse... Much worse. I fell to my knees and held my paws against the sides of my head.

Another memory shot through my mind.

_I found myself inside of a mountain landscape. Huge rocks and boulders were all around me. In front of me was something like a training ground.__ A voice, I couldn't understand, caught my attention as my vision turned to my right. There it was again... The black flickering figure. Just like the other times I had seen it, the black fog around it spread and began to occupy my view._

'No! I want to see more!' I screamed in my head, trying to resist it somehow.

_It worked and only the edge's of my vision were covered in the black flicker. The figure was still unrecognisable. I heard another voice. I was mine._

_"Have you tried to use more than one stream? Maybe the other ones can balance your position in the dash."  
_

_I kept up my struggle but soon, everything went black again._

...

A muffled voice was calling out to me. Slowly, it became clearer and I understood what it was saying.

"Ri! Wake up! Please!" it pleaded.

I opened my eyes and saw the blurry outlines of a Pikachu, looking at me with a worried face.

"Riley? What happened?" I asked her weakly.

She let out a sigh of relief. "You collapsed all of a sudden! Are you alright?"

I sat myself up and noticed the two other concerned looking Pokemon around me.

"I think..." I replied, rubbing my head. "Ugh... My head could kill me..."

"It's just like last time..." Ozu said with a sad voice. "... A couple of days ago, back at the beach, she blacked out too."

"Do you need some water?" Marowak asked, holding a glass of water to me.

I grabbed it and took a sip.

"I'm okay again... Really." I tried to calm them down.

'Another memory... And... this black figure... What is it? Ugh... It feels so familiar... Dammit! Why can't I remember it anymore?'

"Are you sure? We should go to Chimecho and let her do a check on you..." Ozu offered.

"No... I just had a little headache again. Nothing to worry about." I insisted.

I tried to get up to my feet but as soon as I put some weight onto my legs, they gave in and made me fall back on my rear.

"You're coming with me... Now." Ozu ordered, pulling me up to him. He then took my arm and put it around his neck. His right arm went onto my right side to support me.

"I'm sorry, Marowak... We have to continue our training another time." he continued, walking towards the door with me.

"Should I come with you?" Riley asked.

"You can stay here and train... We'll see you later." I answered, while Marowak opened the door for us.

"I hope Chimecho can help you... Come back soon!" he said as we stepped outside.

* * *

Ozu supported me all the way to Duskull's Bank when I stopped him.

"I think I can walk alone again..." I said, putting my full weight on my legs.

"Are you sure?" he asked with a concerned voice. "Do you want to talk about those blackouts or is another secret you want to keep for yourself?"

'Are they? I don't think they have anything to do with Grovyle...'

We were walking on the path, leading to the crossroad when I finally answered.

"You know... Sometimes I get these weird memory shreds... They don't last very long and most of them happened when my instinct pushed out the memories of a move when I needed it..." I began to explain. "Sometimes... There is this black flickering figure and every time I see it in a memory, it stops."

Ozu responded with a confused look. "That's strange... But what about the blackouts?"

"I was coming to that... That black figure... Every time I see it, my head feels like it's about to explode... And well... Today it got so bad that I blacked out." I finished.

The Chimchar looked like he was in deep thought for a moment.

"Hmm... We should tell Chimecho about it... Maybe she knows something..." he suggested as we reached the crossing.

'Maybe... But that memory...'

_Have you tried to use more than one stream?_

'Have I met another person who struggled with Flame Charge before?... Maybe I can help Ozu to learn the move...'

"Uhm... I don't want to visit her right now... There is something I want to try..." I answered, heading towards the beach.

"Wait..." he tried to stop me. "She can help you."

"Just come on already!" I called back to him.

The fire-type hesitated for a moment before he followed me.

We were back at the beach when I stopped and faced him again.

"Ozu... You should try your Flame Charge again." I said with a serious voice.

He gave me another confused look. "What? Why?"

"Just get into your battle stance and aim your dash towards the other end of the beach." I answered, pointing at the other side of the beach.

"Ri, we should really go to Chimecho..." he answered with a worried face. "Also... Every time I used that stupid move, I fell on my face... Do you want me to see me fail again?"

"Why would I want to see a friend getting hurt?" I replied with a smile. "Trust me, I think it's going to work this time."

He wasn't really convinced. "You think?"

He created some distance between us and tensed up.

"Okay! Can you produce more that one stream at the same time?" I asked.

"I can try..." he called back to me.

The Chimchar covered his back with flames. "Ugh... This is really hard... Wouldn't I have to concentrate on more stuff at the same time this way?"

'He's right... Hmm... Wait, maybe...'

"Try to use your arms to balance yourself in your dash." I continued. "You wouldn't have to concentrate on the direction of the fire anymore! Just use two streams from your hands to maintain your position!"

The Chimchar blinked. "This... Could actually work!"

He immediately gave it a try. The fire-type shot his body forward and boosted himself with the flame on his back. When he was about to fall onto his face again, he created two smaller streams of fire in his hands and held them behind his body. They gave him even more speed and kept him upright.

In a matter of seconds, my friend was on the other side of the beach.

The flames on his back and hands disappeared as he turned around.

"I DID IT!" he cheered over to me.

He ran back to me and outright hugged me with a happy smile.

"You are a genius!" he complimented, still embracing me.

"Whoa... Calm down!" I said, trying to get out of his grasp.

When he noticed what he was doing, he immediately ended our hug and took one step back. His face was red and he rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry..." he replied nervously. "Got a little excited there."

"You did great!" I continued with a wide grin.

"How did you know it would work?" he asked.

"I didn't." I answered.

He gave me a confused look again. "You didn't?"

"Nope... Let's just say somebody gave me a little hint." I replied with another grin.

He was even more confused but simply nodded in understanding.

"Well... I think I'm going to visit Spinda now... You should go back to Riley and help her with her training." I said as I began to walk back to the crossroad.

"You should really ask Chimecho about the blackouts... Please, we're worried about you." he replied, following me.

"Maybe later... Also, you don't have to come with me when I do..." I continued.

"But I want to... You're my friend." he said with a sad voice.

I turned around and grabbed his shoulder. "But I'm not really your partner... Come on, that Pikachu would be happy to see you."

* * *

His expression changed. I couldn't quite tell what it was but somehow it looked like he was debating about something.

"Hey... Uhm... Ri... You know... Back at the expedition..." he started. "The little incident at the end..."

I felt a little uncomfortable when he brought up that topic.

"I actually remember everything... And... Ugh... I'm sorry." he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I was a little shocked. "YOU are sorry? It was all my fault! I used Attract on you! You couldn't do anything against it."

His cheeks turned red and he looked at the ground. "I'm not really sure about that... Uhm... I don't really want to explain what I have seen... But at the moment I... Uhm..."

He gulped before he continued. "I could have prevented it... I think... But I didn't... And... Uhm... Yeah..."

...

I understood what he was trying to say. 'Does he think that he likes me?'

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry, Ozu... I think I know what you are trying to say... If it's not what I think it is... Well, I can tell you anyway."

His expression turned a little sad.

I turned red myself. "I think I like somebody... He's a Pokemon and well... And I'm a human... Ugh... It's just really complicated and... Sorry."

He hesitated a bit before he responded.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted to talk about. The human, Pokemon thing. The way you reacted to that Pancham just made me a little nervous." he answered in a strangely nervous voice.

"It's okay... That Pancham was an idiot..." I replied. "Just forget about it."

* * *

An awkward silence was hanging in the air while we walked back to Treasure Town.

When I reached the entrance to Spinda's café, I said goodbye to him and headed down. I caught one last glimpse of him as he walked back into the town.

I stepped into the big room and approached the bar. Spinda was fiddling around with some boxes.

Wynaut and Wobbuffet were doing the same behind their counter.

"Oh, hi there!" Spinda greeted when he noticed me. "Want to work on Own Tempo?"

We continued from where we stopped last time.

This time I had to try to resist Spinda's Teeter Dance.

His feet moved so fast that my eyes weren't able to follow them. It looked like he had more than just two feet what somehow seemed strange to me. All of a sudden my vision got blurry and I felt dizzy.

...

He managed to confuse me most of the times, resulting in many breaks where I had to settle down from the dizziness.

...

After a few hours I finally managed to blend out everything around me and the input of his move didn't confuse me anymore.

...

"I did it!" I cheered as he stopped his dance.

"Nice! But you should be careful with that trick. Only use it if you're one hundred percent sure that your opponent is going to hit you with a confusing move." he explained. "You might have noticed that the awareness of the thing that happen around isn't that great... That's the risk behind Own Tempo."

"I will!" I replied. "Thank you!"

"You should train it sometimes... Would be bad if you need it and aren't able to do it again." he added.

"Well, I should head back to the guild... See ya!" I said, heading towards the exit.

I left the café and made my way back to the guild. It was already evening. 'Wow, how long have I been in there?'

I entered Wigglytuff's guild and headed to the second floor. A few of the other guild members were already waiting for Chimecho to announce dinner, so I decided to join them to wait for my friends.

I had some small talk about their explorations with them until my friends came down the ladder and Chimecho announced everyone to get into the dinning hall.

"Did you visit Chimecho yet?" Ozu asked as we walked along the hallway.

I shook my head. "Not yet... Maybe tomorrow."

He responded with a worried look.

We sat down on our usual spot and were just about to dig into the food on our plates, when Chatot called for everyone's attention.

A few guild members protested, but after a while he managed to calm everyone down.

"Okay now... We have received another letter from the federation regarding the timgears." he announced. "Another Time Gear has been stolen."

'Well, two days... That's at least something...'

The others reacted with a little tumult.

"Was... Was it the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake?" one of them asked.

Everybody got silent and awaited Chatot's answer.

"No, this one was from Limestone Cavern." he answered. "Now that another gear has been taken, I have to remember you on our promise to Uxie again."

"Promise?" I called out, interrupting the flying-type.

Suddenly everyone's eyes shot open and focused on me.

"Ri! We forgot to tell her! Dear Arceus!" Chatot screeched.

He flapped his wings and jumped onto the table, right in front of me.

His face almost touched mine and he grabbed my cheeks with his wings.

"Ri! Did you tell anyone about our discoveries from Fogbound Lake?! Tell me!" he ordered in a serious tone.

"No! I haven't talked with anyone about it!" I answered.

The whole guild let out a sigh of relief.

Chatot flew back to his seat.

"Listen closely now, Ri. Back at Fogbound Lake, when you were unconscious, we made a promise to Uxie." he began to explain. "He told us that we could keep our memories from the lake if we promised not to tell anyone about it."

I nodded in understanding.

The flying-type let out another sigh. "I see this as a reminder for the rest of you too. Don't tell anyone."

"Okay... Now to the next part. We've received some information about the identity of the thief. If you see one of the following Pokemon near the location of a Time Gear, report it immediately!", he continued. "Snivy, Servine, Serpirior, Shifty, Leafeon."

A smirk formed on my face.

"I will put the information letter on the outlaw board. Well, now that all of that it out of the way... Enjoy your meals!"

The other guild members immediately started to eat their food.

My smirk was still on my face when Riley poked my arm. "What are you smirking at?"

She startled me and I jumped a bit. "It's nothing! Just remember something funny."

She gave me a suspicious look before she turned to the the food in front of her.

I did the same and consumed a mix of berries and apples.

* * *

We finished dinner and headed into our room.

I put off my gear and hopped onto my bed, just like usual.

My friends and I kept talking for a while... About our training and what we would do the next day. They were exhausted, so we decided to call it a day and sleep early.

I felt tired too. Spinda's training was tiring and overall, I just wanted to get some sleep...

'I have to tell them... As soon as Dusknoir leaves Treasure Town, I'm going to tell them everything... I hope Grovyle is alright.'

I got into a comfortable sleeping position.

...

'I haven't even thought how I'm going to tell him that I'm not Riley... Will he be angry? I hope not...'

Those last thoughts flew through my mind before I slowly drifted into sleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 12**


	13. Suspicion

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Suspicion  
**

* * *

"UP AND AT 'EM, IT'S MORNING!"

"Morning, Loudred..." my friends and I called back to the Pokemon in our doorway.

The normal-type headed back into the hallway and we got ourselves ready for our mission.

We walked into the main room and listened to Chatot's morning briefing.

Just when we wanted to head to the first floor to choose a mission, Loudred called us over to the "sentry hole".

"What's up, Loudred?" Ozu asked as we approached him.

"You've got some visitors. They want to see Team Ignition." he explained.

"Oh... I wonder who it is." the Chimchar replied.

He looked at us but only received two shrugs.

We climbed up to the entrance.

Two blue mouse-like Pokemon were standing in front of the tent. Marill and Azurill.

"Hi, there! Did you call for us?" Ozu asked as we walked out of the guild.

"Yes, we did!" Azurill replied.

"We want to ask you for some help!" his big brother continued. "You see... Yesterday when we looked for our Water Float, we weren't able to find it. Instead, we found a note, lying at the middle of the beach."

The water-type the pulled out a paper and handed it to us.

I grabbed the sheet and read it out loud. "The Water Float from the beach is now in our possession. Just try to take it from us! We'll wait in the deepest part of Amp Plains!"

"That kind of sounds like a trap..." Ozu said with a worried face. "I hope you haven't tried to got there yet, Amp Plains is full of electric-types!"

The Marill in front of us shook his head. "I would go there but just like you said, the electric-types that live there would annihilate me."

"I don't want big brother to get hurt." Azurill commented in a sad voice.

"That's why we need your help... We can't give you much but please! Get the Water Float for us." Marill pleaded.

"Do you two think what I'm thinking?" I asked my friend with a confident voice.

Ozu still looked kind of worried but Riley on the other hand nodded with a determined look on her face.

I patted the fire-type onto his shoulder and gave him a grin. "Hey, remember what you told me back at the expedition? There's nothing to worry about with someone as strong like me on your team!"

He returned with a somewhat forced smile, before he faced Azurill and Marill again.

"Sure! We'll help you!" he assured them.

They cheered and gave us a little applause while we headed to the crossing. We said goodbye to them and left Treasure Town.

Ozu pulled out his Wonder Map to plan our route. After a couple of minutes he put it back into his backpack and spoke up again.

"Okay... It's probably going to take us a couple of hours to get there." he explained.

* * *

Strangely, Ozu wasn't as talkative as usual. Something seemed to bug him at the back of his head.

Riley and I had a little chat about humans again. Ozu was only able to listen and try to understand what were talking about.

The conversation didn't last long though... Both of us didn't remember much to talk about...

We walked along a simple dirt road until we came across a rocky landscape. The sky was full of storm clouds all of sudden and we were able to hear thunder roar in the distance now and then.

"We're almost there." Ozu announced, checking the map again.

We reached our destination and prepared ourselves before we began to conquer the dungeon called Amp Plains.

Riley took the lead and tried to guide us through the hallways and rooms without raising the attention of any wild Pokemon.

Whenever we had to fight, Ozu dashed at his enemies with his newly learned Flame Charge and stroke them with a Fire Punch.

I was quite impressed by his new skill. The trick I showed him worked better than expected. He was able turn the stream of fire from his hands directly into a punch.

Riley mostly used her Quickattack... I guessed that she wanted to master it, in order to come close to the speed I was able to get with Extremespeed.

I tried out my Bone Rush again. The ground-type attack was strong against most of the Pokemon we came across. I didn't use te Gavylian-style though... The batons were only used as explosive projectiles.

Mostly electric and steel-types. Though I saw normal-types here and then too.

The Cheri berries from our first mission were really helpful in this dungeon. A few of the feral Pokemon had the Static ability. Upon touching one of them, a wave of electricity shot through my body and paralyzed me, restricting my mobility.

Ozu reacted immediately and cured me right away with one of the berries.

'I should be careful with the around those electric-types... I could just use the shockwave from Force Palm without touching them... It wouldn't be that effective but at least I won't get paralyzed again...'

I tried out my new strategy and attacked a few of the Pokemon with a "ranged" Force Palm. It worked and most of them were sent flying, even with the lower amount of force I delivered.

After clearing a couple of floors, we came across another "safe zone". The "dungeon feeling" was gone and no wild Pokemon were able to be seen.

My friends and I took the opportunity to eat some lunch. Ozu pulled out three apples from his backpack and handed two of them to Riley and me.

I grabbed it and consumed it like I usually would have. From one moment to the next, the apple was gone.

I waited for my friends to finished their meals and we continued our search for the Water Float.

The second part of the dungeon was a lot harder to get through. Back at Steam Cave, we had a similar problem. Most of the electric-types were fully evolved and could bring up strong Thunderbolts.

With some struggle, we were finally able to clear the dungeon.

When we left it, we found ourselves in another rocky area. We were at the middle of the Amp Plains and I was able to feel the electricity in the air. For me and Ozu, the feeling was a little uncomfortable... Riley on the other hand was fine. Being an electric-type, she seemed to like it actually.

We were surrounded by huge boulders and rocks and the ground was covered with dry grass.

All of a sudden, the noise from a thunder startled us. When it was over, we heard a voice.

"You are trespassing our territory!" it called from the top of a rock in front of us. It sounded male.

A Manectric stepped to the edge of the boulder and revealed the identity of the voice. "Turn back now and we will spare you!"

Just as he said those word, a huge amount of Electrike showed themselves. The rocks all around us were covered with the green and yellow canines.

My friends tensed up as all of them jumped down and slowly walked closer to us.

When the Manectric was right in front if us, we heard another voice from behind him.

"Brother, calm down! They are probably just some explorers on a mission." another Manetric called over to him. It sounded familiar somehow.

When a Darumaka walked up behind the other one, I knew who it was. I grit my teeth. 'Dammit! Why is he here?!'

"Are you sure?" the leader of the pack asked.

"Well, they have the gear for explorers and..." the other Manectric stopped there. He was looking at me with a surprised face. 'Dammit!'

"It's that Riolu again..." he said as he walked past his brother and approached me and my friends. "What a surprise..."

My friends gave me a confused look.

I tensed up and locked my eyes onto the electric-type. 'This is bad! If he talks about Grovyle... I'd have to... But... Dammit!'

"This is her?!" his brother asked with a surprised look.

"What are they talking about? Have you met them before?" Riley asked with a worried expression on her face.

"I see you've got some new friends..." the familiar Manectric said as he slowly circled around us. "Okay now... I think I've got the upper hand here... I have one question for you. If you answer, you can finish whatever business you have here and leave..."

'Don't do it...'

The electric-type stopped. "Where is that Gr... Ugh..."

A bone to the back of his head ended his question and knocked him out immediately.

"Why did you do..." Riley tried to ask, but just then hell went loose and every Pokemon around us charged towards our direction.

I could only hope that my friends would be able to survive the attack. I let the bone disappear and got into my battle stance.

A lot of Electrike lunged at at me, ready to dig their teeth into me.

One after another they shot their bodies towards me. I dodge with subsequent sidesteps and countered with swift punches and kicks.

Their number got bigger and bigger, so I had to use Extremespeed to keep up with their assault. The move also strengthened my counters, resulting in devastating blows that sent the electric-types flying.

When all of them decided to charge at me at the same time, I put my paws together and created my silver shining batons.

I then jumped up into the air and poured more aura into them. All the Electrike that had charged at me were hit by a rain of overcharged bones.

Creating one baton after another, I threw them down at my enemies.

The explosions sent them flying and created a lot of dust underneath me.

I fell into the cloud of dust and landed on my feet. A few disoriented electric-types were around me. Some of them were covered with bruises and burns...

After creating two new batons, I dashed out of the cloud to see if my friends were okay. They fought a group of Electrike and the Manectric leader.

Riley's Thunderbolt was ineffective. The green dogs were immune to the electricity. It even looked like they were getting stronger whenever the Pikachu tried to hit them with an electric-type move.

Ozu kept most of them at distance with his Ember, though some of the Electrike were able to dash through his defensive line. Whenever one of them pushed through, he threw it back with a Flame Charge enhanced Fire Punch.

I was just about to run up to my friends and help them when the Darumaka got into my way.

The fire-type gave me a menacing look and got into a battle stance.

"What's your problem?" he asked angrily.

"I'm sorry..." Those were the last words the small Pokemon heard before a bone to the back of his head knocked him out.

I felt guilty when the Pokemon slowly fell to the ground.

Shaking off the feeling, I used Extremespeed again and threw my foot into the face of a Electrike that was trying to jump onto Riley. The Pokemon was thrown into another group of canines.

Landing between my friends and the Manectric leader, I got back into Grovyle's stance and faced him.

"Sorry for that..." I called back to my friends before I concentrated on Extremespeed again.

My friends were astonished when I vanished and only stirred up dust was seen at the place I just stood at.

One electric-type after another fell unconscious to the ground around them.

I finally appeared over the leader and brought one last bone to the back of his head. A last yelp escaped his mouth before he made contact with the ground.

I landed on my feet and let my bones disappear.

Riley and Ozu had shocked expressions on their faces. I was standing in a field full of knocked out Pokemon. A few whimpers could be heard sometimes.

I felt horrible... Not only did I attack them with a style that probably could've seriously injured them... They also were just some innocent electric-types, trying to protect their territory.

My head was pointing towards the ground when I slowly walked back to my team members.

When I rose my head to face them, my eyes shot open and focused on the Pokemon that was standing behind them.

My whole body froze when Dusknoir looked at me with his soul piercing eye. Somehow it looked like... 'Is he smirking?!'

"I guess you didn't need my help after all." he said.

Riley and Ozu were startled by the voice behind them and quickly turned around.

"Whoa! Don't scare us like that, Dusknoir!" Ozu responded in a surprised voice.

The ghost-type chuckled.

"Excuse me... You see, I met Marill and Azurill in Treasure Town... When they told me that you went off to Amp Plains I hurried here immediately... I knew that there is a tribe of Electrike roaming the deepest part of the plains this time of the year." he explained. "But I see that you were able to handle the situation without me."

The three of them locked their views on me.

"I'm quite impressed by that fighting-style of yours..." Dusknoir continued.

'If he has fought Grovyle before... Did he recognize the movements?!'

Riley took one step towards me. "What was that, Ri?! That Manectric knew you... Why did you attack him?!"

I took one step back as sweat formed on my forehead. "Uhm... Well, do you remember the first day after our expedition after I woke up? When I visited Marowak's dojo, I noticed that this guy was stalking me... He followed me all the way through Treasure Town... When I confronted him, he was talking some perverted nonsense... I managed to scare him off and... Well... It was a little uncomfortable for me so I didn't tell you... Sorry."

'Dammit! Another lie...'

The Pikachu looked like she didn't quite believe me. She luckily didn't ask any more questions... I could see a little anger in her expression. 'I've just gained her trust again... God dammit.'

"Shouldn't we be looking for the Water Float right now?" I asked nervously, trying to change the subject.

We split up and searched for Marill's and Azurill's precious item.

Riley and Ozu looked for it at one side of the plain while Dusknoir followed me to the other one. 'Ugh... Calm down... Don't raise any suspicion...'

"You seem pretty strong... Who taught you how to fight?" he asked with a curious voice. '... This is bad... What now? The old amnesia act?'

"Uhm... I think I trained with a Hawlucha..." I answered nervously.

He responded with a confused look. "A Hawlucha? They normally don't live on this continent... And what do you mean with "I think"?"

"Uhm... This isn't exactly the time to talk about this..." I replied. "Can we continued this conversation when were back at Treasure Town?"

'And I'm able to come up with a believable excuse... Ugh...'

Just then I noticed something laying on the ground. "Hey, what's that over there?"

I ran over to it and picked the item up with my paw. "It looks like a ring..."

Dusknoir called Riley and Ozu over to us. He then indicated me to show the ring to him.

"That's definitively a Water Float!" he exclaimed.

It looked like a blue bracelet with a green gemstone forged into it.

"We did it!" Ozu cheered.

His happy attitude changed when the four of us turned around again. The floor was still covered with unconscious Pokemon.

"We have to help them..." the Chimchar said in a sad voice. "Maybe we can leave them some Oran berries..."

"That's a good idea..." I replied, pulling out a paw full of berries from my pouch.

'I just want to get out of here... Dammit! Think! What should I tell him?'

Ozu mimicked my action and pulled out some berries from his backpack. We placed one of them in front of every Pokemon.

Dusknoir tensed up all of a sudden.

"Do you think you can hide forever?!" he yelled into the air.

'What is he talking about?'

After a few seconds, we heard a laughter in the distance. "Chaw-haw-haw..."

Just when I heard the sound, a foul smell entered my nose...

'Wait...'

Team Skull came out from their hiding spot behind a boulder.

The Skuntank approached us with a smirk.

Koffing and Zubat were followed him closely.

"We underestimated that Riolu again... And now the great Dusknoir blew our cover. I've had better plans before." Skuntank said.

"He-he-he! Those wimps wouldn't stand a chance without her." Zubat grinned.

"Ho-ho-ho! If a horde of Electrike can't beat her... Well, we gotta find something else." Koffing added, also grinning.

"You idiots stole that Water Float?! Just to get revenge on me?!" I growled angrily.

"Chaw-haw-haw! We sure did! We would've fought you again but considering that you have that ghost on your side, I would say that we better retreat." he answered, keeping up his annoying grin. "For now..."

I was just about to dash forward and knock their faces in, when an ice-cold hand grabbed my shoulder.

"They're not worth it..." Dusknoir said in a calm voice.

"Let's get out of here, boys!" Skuntank yelled as they turned around and dashed out of our sight.

"Those idiots!" Ozu growled. "What is their problem?!"

"Calm down... We should return the item back to Marill and Azurill." Dusknoir suggested. "We can think about these grunts later..."

The ghost-type pulled out his explorer-badge, indicating us to do the same. My friends and I did as told and used our badges to teleport ourselves back to Treasure Town.

It was afternoon when we arrived back in front of the staircase, leading up to the guild.

With the Water Float in my hand, we slowly headed back to Kecleon's Market... Dusknoir told us that he had seen Marill and Azurill there before he went to help us.

On the way, I tried to come up with a story I could tell Dusknoir...

'Okay... I'll just tell him that I lost my memories because of the Warp Orb... And if he talks about Grovyle's fighting-style... Hmm... I'll just keep going with the Hawlucha story...'

We arrived at the shop and two excited looking water-types came running towards us.

"Team Ignition! You're back!" Azurill cheered.

"Were you able to get it?" the bigger brother asked with an excited voice.

"Well, does this answer your question?" I replied, handing the bracelet over to them.

The water-type grabbed it with a wide smile and cheered loudly as he showed it to his little brother.

Azurill jumped happily around his brother. "They did it! They did it! They did it!"

The scene put a smile on my face.

"Thank you, sooo much!" Marill said, putting his hand onto the back of his brother to calm him down.

"No problem." Ozu replied with a warm smile.

"First you saved Azurill from that outlaw Drowsy and now this... How can we ever make this up to you?" the blue mouse continued.

The Chimchar rubbed the back of his head. "Don't mention it! We're happy to help!"

"I can only thank you again!... Though I still don't understand how you were able to know that Drowsy would kidnap my brother..." Marill said with a confused face.

"Well, my partner here had a vision about it." Ozu answered, pointing at the Pikachu next to him.

"A vision?" Dusknoir threw in with a surprised voice.

Ozu looked at Riley.

The Pikachu responded with a nod and the fire-type faced the ghost-type again.

"You see, when she touches something, she gets those weird visions sometimes... They show her visions from the future or the past that happened around the thing she touched." Ozu explained.

Dusknoir looked perplexed all of a sudden. "Well, that sounds like the Dimensional Scream to me..."

My eyes shot open and focused on the ghost-type. 'He knows about the Dimensional Scream?! Oh no...'

"The Dimensional Scream?" Riley asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yes... It's a rare ability that let's you do exactly what you your friend just described... But..." he answered.

She got even more confused by his last word. "But... What?"

Dusknoir looked at me for a brief moment.

'Why is he looking at me? ...Wait... Did he think that...? But that could only mean... Does he know!?... But... He has just seen me fight like Grovyle... That alone couldn't have told him... Wait... What if...'

I remembered the autograph I had in my pouch. 'No...'

The ghost-type shook his head. "Nothing, I was just surprised that you have such a rare skill..."

"Can you tell me more about it?!" Riley almost yelled at him with an expectant voice.

"Well, I wanted to talk with you three in private anyway... Do you know a quiet place where nobody would disturb us?" Dusknoir asked.

"We could go to the beach..." Ozu suggested.

Dusknoir turned to the two water-types next to him. "Good-bye... May we meet again."

"Bye!" they replied in union.

He then floated towards the bridge next to us.

My friends said goodbye too and followed him. I hesitated for a moment...

A forced grin formed on my face as I said goodbye too and turned around to follow them.

Riley and Ozu were talking about her, finally learning something about herself... Dusknoir turned around now and then and looked at either me or Riley.

'I bet that he's going to ask her for her name... But what does it matter to him if she is Grovyle's partner? She has lost her memory, so she won't be a threat to his plan... He would gain nothing from attacking her... But if he does... I can stop him and tell them the truth... His attack would be the proof. That would solve all of my problems!... Well, at least a few of them.'

I was close behind my friends and tried to come up with a plan.

After a while, we reached the beach and the ghost-type turned around to face us again.

"So, what do you want to know?" he asked with a calm voice.

"Do you know why I have an ability like this?" the Pikachu asked in an excited tone.

"Well, the way to obtain the Dimensional Scream is a mystery in itself. Some say that it gets inherited... Other's say that it occurs when a living being stumbles into a disturbance in time." he explained.

The ghost-type sounded a little bit too curious when he asked his next question. "Did your parents have a similar ability?"

Riley's head sank towards the ground. "I don't know... I have amnesia... I woke up on this beach a couple of weeks ago..."

Dusknoir looked surprised. "Amnesia?"

"Yes, all I remember was my name and..." she stopped there.

Dusknoir responded with a confused look. "And what?"

A smirk could be seen on my face when I walked next to the Pikachu and put my hand onto her shoulder.

She rose her head again and looked at me with a confused expression.

"Hey, Riley... I think we should tell him about your little human secret."

* * *

**End of Chapter - 13**


	14. The Thief

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 14 - The Thief**

* * *

"Riley?" the ghost-types eye shot open. "And... You say that she is a human?"

The Pikachu looked at me with a somewhat shocked expression... Throwing out her secret without even asking wasn't nice after all.

Ozu was a little astonished too.

She turned her attention towards Dusknoir again. "Yes... I'm a human... And yes, my name is Riley."

The electric-type was a bit confused by the surprised look on his face. "Does my name say something to you?"

"Sadly... No... But that you claim to be a human is just a little shocking." Dusknoir said, clearing his throat.

'He should have figured it out... Let's see what he does next...'

Riley made eye contact with me. "Shouldn't we tell him about you too?"

'Hmmm... He wouldn't gain anything from knowing that I'm human... Heh... It would only get him more confused.'

I was just about to open my mouth and tell him, when a shout from Bidoof caught our attention.

"Hey! Ozu! Riley! Ri!" he yelled, running down the beach.

The normal-type stopped right in front of us. He was panting and had to catch his breath for a couple of seconds.

"What's wrong, Bidoof?" Ozu asked.

He had to take one last deep breath before he was able to speak again.

"You have to come back to the guild! Quick! Chatot ordered everyone to meet up at the outlaw board immediately!" Bidoof explained.

"I guess we have to continue our conversation another time." I said to Dusknoir.

'Thank god... This could've gone bad... I have a little more time to come up with a plan now.'

"I'm coming with you. I would like to see what this all about." he replied.

'Dammit.'

We followed the Bidoof and quickly headed back to the guild. When we reached the crossroad, I noticed that a huge amount of Pelipper were flying through the sky above us.

'What is going on?'

* * *

We arrived at the guild and climbed down to the first floor.

A crowd of Pokemon was standing in front of the outlaw bulletin board.

"Here they are!" Bidoof exclaimed as he took his place in the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Ozu asked with a confused expression on his face.

Chatot took one step towards us. "Something horrible has happened. It's..."

The flying-type hesitated before he continued. "Another Time Gear has been stolen!"

My friends were shocked. "What!?"

I was surprised too. 'Another one? So Grovyle has already been to Fogbound Lake.'

"W... Where was it taken from?" the Chimchar next to me asked.

Looking into the faces of the other guild members, I could already tell that it really was the one from the lake.

"It's the one from Fogbound Lake." Chatot answered.

"But how?" Riley asked with a sad look. "I'm sure that none of us broke our promise."

A few guild members were looking at me.

"Hey, I already told you! I didn't tell anyone!" I yelled at them, feeling a little offended.

"Calm down, Ri... We believe you..." Chatot hushed me down.

The ghost-type behind me cleared his throat. "Could somebody tell me what this is about?"

"Oh, Dusknoir... Uhm... We're sorry. When you asked us about our expedition, I lied to you." Wigglytuff spoke up. "We actually found a Time Gear there. We had to promise Uxie not to tell anyone about it's location..."

He nodded in understanding. "It's okay, I respect your loyalty."

"We have received a letter from the federation. Uxie was able to identify the thief." Chatot continued, pointing at a wanted poster on the board.

I gasped when I saw the poster with a picture of a Grovyle. I was just standing there with wide open eyes and mouth.

'No! This is bad! They found him! What... What am I supposed to do?! I can't tell them... Dusknoir would just expose me as a complice... I would have to fight my way out if here and... Dammit!... I... I have to wait and think... Figure out a way to help him somehow... And...'

"Ri...Hello? Ri!" Riley ripped me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay? You've been staring at this picture like you had seen a ghost."

Again, a few of the others were staring at me. I didn't see him, but somehow I knew that Dusknoir noticed my reaction too.

"Ugh... It's nothing..." I said, shaking my head. "I just thought that... Ugh.. Forget it."

The Pikachu gave me a suspicious look. She seemed to be in deep thought all of a sudden.

"A Grovyle? The first letter didn't say anything about one of them..." Ozu though out loud.

"That is correct. It is strange that the federation didn't consider their species... It doesn't matter now anyway... We know who we have to deal with now." Chatot responded.

Wigglytuff got everyone's attention again. "Okay, everyone! We have a thief to catch! From now on, we focus our work on finding that Grovyle! We will discuss our plans tomorrow at the morning briefing!"

"You heard the guildmaster! Use the rest of the time before dinner to prepare yourself for the search!" the flying-type next to him added. "You are dismissed!"

"I will try to assist you in every was possible." Dusknoir announced before the other guild members slowly left the room.

A couple of them left the guild. I assumed that they went to stock up at Kecleon's Market.

Luckily, Dusknoir followed Chatot and Wigglytuff down to the second floor. They would probably decide where to send the teams.

Only me and my friends were left.

"Should we do some last-minute shopping too?" Ozu asked.

"I think I'd rather give Marowak a short visit before dinner." Riley answered. "What about you, Ri?"

She had to wait a moment for my answer. My head was busy, trying to decide how to go on from here on.

'Grovyle is a hunted outlaw... I... If I tell my friends now... What would they do? Would they just dump me and sell me out for helping a criminal?... But what about Riley? Would she believe me if I told her that she is his partner?... Ugh... I need to think...'

I noticed that the Pikachu had just asked me a question. "Sorry, what?"

"Should we do a little training session before dinner?" she repeated.

"Fine by me." I nodded.

We left the guild and headed towards Marowak's Dojo.

'Ugh... I... Maybe I can give Grovyle some more time to collect the other Time Gears... Yes... That's it... Dusknoir knows where the other gears are... Meaning that Wigglytuff is going to send us to Crystal Cave or Quicksand Desert tomorrow... Grovyle said that he would get the one from the desert after Fogbound Lake... If I met him there... I could probably join him again and... Ugh... But Riley and Ozu...'

"Ri?" I got pulled out of my thoughts again.

"Huh?" I turned my head to my friends.

They had confused looks on their faces.

"Is something wrong?" the Chimchar asked. "You're so absent..."

"Uhm... I'm just debating what kind of training I should do..." I answered.

We finally arrived at the Dojo. Riley knocked on the door and Marowak welcomed us in.

"So, what can I do for you today?" the ground-type asked as he closed the door behind us. "You two did some good work yesterday! Do you want to try out your new moves in a sparring match?"

My friends looked at each other for a moment before they faced him again and shook their heads.

"No, just some normal training." Riley replied.

"Oh..." he was somewhat disappointed.

Marowak's expression turned back to normal when he approached me. "What about you? Ready to work on that Gavylian-style?"

"Gavylian-style?" Riley threw in with a confused look.

"It's the fighting-style I used when I fought with my batons..." I explained.

"Oh... Okay..."

I wasn't really motivated to for training but I needed something to distract me for a while.

"Well, how are we going to refine it?" I asked the ground-type.

He brought his hand to his chin. "Hmm... Show me the basic movements... Maybe I can see what makes that style so lethal..."

"Lethal?" Ozu asked with a somewhat worried face.

A sigh escaped my mouth. "Yeah... That style's purpose is to kill other Pokemon... I... I just couldn't do something like that... That's why I want to invent a new style..."

The Chimchat responded with a nod. "I see..."

Marowak lead me onto the training field and instructed my friends to do some more stamina training.

"Okay, create your bones and show me how you would attack." he ordered.

I did as told and put my paws together in front of me. After concentrating enough aura into them, I pulled them outwards again and broke the bone in half when it was long enough.

Just like usual, I spun them around a bit, before I got into the basic stance.

I proceed by showing off every movement Grovyle had taught me.

Marowak was eying me closely as I swung my bones through the air.

After a while, stopped me. "I think I figured it out."

I let my bones disappear and walked up to him.

I took a quick glimpse at my friends. Riley was just sitting there in a meditation position.

'What is she doing? Meditating won't help her to increase her speed... What kind of move did Marowak teach her?'

Ozu worked on the the fire streams on his back, he needed for Flame Charge. He was getting better at controlling the "direction part" of the move.

I turned my attention back to the ground-type in front of me.

"I see now what makes it so lethal... Your attacks are mainly swipes which means that if you had blades, you would cut through the vital points of your enemies." he began to explain. "Most of them aim towards the neck and the head. Your bones aren't sharp but the angle at which you hit their necks can lead to lethal effects too."

I clasped my arm and nodded in understanding. "So what could I do to change that?"

The Marowak mimicked me and folded his arm too. "Hmmm... We could try to change the swipe motion into a simple straight blow. The worst thing you could do to another Pokemon would be to knock it out... And I assumed that this could be the purpose of your new style... Knocking out your foes immediately without causing any damage to them."

I liked that description. I knocked out people with one blow a lot, meaning that the new style would be beneficial for my way to handle most of my confrontations. I wouldn't have any risk to severely injure my targets anymore.

"Okay!" I exclaimed with a smile. "Let's try it."

We tried out his plan on one of the dummies.

The first part, getting into reach, stayed the same. I had no problem executing it.

When I got to the second part, the actual blow, it got harder.

Grovyle had taught me to turn the momentum from my dash directly into the strike.

With a swipe motion, it was no problem... But with a straight blow, this wasn't possible anymore.

I had to bend in my elbow before I could throw the bone at the back of the dummies head. The motion was similar to back-stab.

I was just about to get the hang of it when Ozu stopped my training. "Hey, Ri! We should head to dinner now!"

Somewhat disappointed, I let my bones disappear and walked over to my friends which were waiting for me in front of the exit.

"Thank you, Marowak!" I grinned at him before me and my friends said good-bye and headed back to the guild.

"So what have you been doing, Riley?" I asked her as we passed Duskull's Bank.

The Pikachu gave me a grin. "That's something you would like to know, huh? Well, I still want that rematch so I won't tell you! Once I have mastered that move, I'm sure I can beat you."

Her confidence lifted my mood somehow. "Hehe, that's the spirit!"

On the rest of the way, I got back into my thoughts again.

'Okay... I need to come up with a plan... Think... My main goal now is to give Grovyle some more time to collect the Time Gears... I could sabotage the search and warn him about any traps Dusknoir is planning... If I meet him...Yes... That's it.'

* * *

We reached the guild and headed down to the second floor. The other guild members were already waiting for Chimecho to announce dinner.

At the same time, the psychic-type floated out of the infirmary, Dusknoir, Chatot and Wigglytuff left the guildmasters office.

Chimecho announced that it was dinner time and everyone headed into the dinning hall.

To my dismay, Wigglytuff invited the ghost-type to join us.

'He just won't give me a break... Ugh...'

Dusknoir was sitting right next to me, what gave me a strange feeling while I was eating.

All of the guild members were finished and slowly headed out of the room. When I wanted to follow my friends, Dusknoir stopped me.

'Oh, god...Why?'

"I think now is a good time to continue our conversation." he said in calm voice.

I looked over to Riley and Ozu, which were slowly walking back to us.

"Your friend was talking about a secret of yours..."

There were no other guild members left in the room, meaning that I could tell him.

I looked into his eye. "I'm a human too."

He didn't seem to be that surprised like he had been with Riley.

"Two humans..." he said under his breath before he gave me an expectant look. "Do you remember something about your human life?"

"Uhm... No... My friends here found me unconscious in front of the guild a while ago. Everything before that is just really foggy." I answered, trying to sound as sad as possible.

"Mmmmh, I see." He put his hand down again. "So you don't remember who you learned that fighting-style from... Too bad."

"Is there something else you want to talk about or can we leave you now? I'm kind of tired and I want to be fit for tomorrow." I said, getting up from my stool.

"Well, there's not much to ask if you lost your memories..." he replied. "I will see you at the briefing."

'Whew...'

* * *

We left the dinning hall and headed back to our room.

The ghost-type said good-bye to us before he floated up the ladder, leading up to the next floor.

Riley, Ozu and I headed back into our room and put off our gear.

I sat down on my bed, letting out a deep sigh. "I'm really tired... Wow."

My friends did the same.

The Pikachu untied her scarf and rested it next to her bed before she faced me. "Hey, Ri... I don't know how I come to a question like this but... That friend you told us about..."

'Ugh... Right...'

"What about him?" I asked nervously.

"I think you never told us what kind of species he was..." she said with a serious voice.

"Uhm... Riley... That's kind of about my past again... I will tell you... But right now is a really bad moment... Can we just concentrate on that mission tomorrow?" I shook off her question.

She gave me a suspicious look and put her head onto the hay. "If you say so... Good night." she said coldly.

Ozu responded with a worried expression, before he laid down too. "Good night."

I got myself into a comfortable sleeping position and thought about my whole situation again.

'Okay... For now I'll try to give Grovyle some more time... And my friends... Lying to them is... Ugh... I have to keep them out of Grovyle's way. I really want to tell them but I can't risk it if Dusknoir is still here at the guild...'

My thought shifted to another problem.

'How am I supposed to tell Grovyle? I guess he would appreciate that I'm still trying to help him even if I'm not his real partner... I would have to find him for that of course... Quicksand Desert... I could try to head there alone in a couple of days... Ugh... But what should I tell my friends then? I would have to lie again... Dammit.'

I was slowly drifting into sleep when I suddenly heard a whisper.

"Riley. Are you still awake?" Ozu asked.

"Yeah..." she responded.

"Do you really want to fight her?" He sounded worried.

"That's what I've been training for..." she said in a confident tone.

"Psst, Ri." the Pikachu tried to wake me.

I acted like I was sleeping... I didn't want to talk anymore.

"Okay... She's asleep. Have you noticed her weird behavior today? Ever since she has seen that wanted poster, she began to act really strange." she continued.

"Yeah, I've noticed... Do you have an idea what could be wrong?" the Chimchar asked with a worried voice.

"I... There is something that bugs me... I think that Ri... Uhm..."

The Pikachu stopped there and was silent for a moment.

"It was a stupid idea, forget about it..."

"Come on, tell me." Ozu replied.

The Pikachu let out a deep sigh. "I think that Ri has seen that Grovyle before..."

My eyes shot open. 'Dammit...'

"But she would tell us, wouldn't she?" Another sigh escaped her mouth. "Ugh... Please forget that I even mentioned it... Ri could never..."

"You don't think that?" The Chimchar sounded a little surprised.

"Good night, Ozu." she answered.

The fire-type hesitated a bit before he responded. "Good night."

'I'm sorry...' I closed my eyes again. 'Good night.'

* * *

**End of Chapter - 14**


	15. Desert goggles

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 15 - Desert goggles  
**

* * *

_I was on the main square of Treasure Town. A lot of Pokemon were around me. I recognized a few guild members among them. Riley and Ozu were standing next to me._

_A Magnezone entered the scene. The crowd moved aside and let the steel-type float towards the center of the square._

_Two Magnemite's were following it and a Pokemon I couldn't recognize was between them. The crowd occupied my vision._

_The Magnezone stopped when it reached the center. "We were finally able to capture the timegear-thief!"_

_My eyes shot open. 'What?! No!'_

_I pushed myself through the crowd. 'No, it can't be! There's no way they could have captured Grovyle.' _

_When I was finally able to see the captured Pokemon, I gasped._

_A Riolu was looking at me with its red eyes. Its hands were cuffed up and a muzzle was bound around its mouth.  
_

_"Did you really think they would believe you?" a voice said from behind me._

_I turned around to see Dusknoir look at me with his soul piercing eye.  
_

_The stare froze me. "What? I don't..."_

_I turned around to look at the Riolu again... It was nowhere to be found. _

_Suddenly, I felt the cuffs and the muzzle on myself. 'What?!' _

_I grunted and tried to get the bindings off of me.  
_

_All of the other Pokemon created a circle around me... Two of them stepped forward. _

_A Pikachu and a Chimchar. My friends.  
_

_Not able to talk with the leather-band around my snout, I could only give them a pleading look._

_"You really thought that we would believe this crazy story about some dark future?" Ozu said with a evil smirk.  
_

_The Pikachu was giving me the same look she had given me right after the expedition. _

_"All those lies... I hope you drown in them." Riley said coldly._

_At that moment, I lost the ground beneath my feet and fell into a sea of darkness._

* * *

"AAAAAHHHH!" I screamed as my eyes shot open.

My breath was trembling and my fur was soaked in sweat.

"Whoa, what's wrong?!" My scream was loud enough to wake up my friends.

I slowly sat up. I was in my bed, back at the guild. 'Oh god... It was just a dream...'

My friends had worried expressions on their faces.

"Are you okay, Ri?" Ozu asked, his voice full of concern.

My breathing was still inconsistent but I was able to answer. "... Just... A Nightmare..."

The fire-type got up from his bed and walked over to me.

"Hey, it's alright..." he said, sitting down next to me. He put his hand on my shoulder.

After a while, my body calmed down again. "Thank you... I'm okay again... That dream just... Ugh..."

Ozu got up again. "Well, the sun has already risen... Should we get up?"

I nodded and hopped out of my bed. Riley did the same and tied her red scarf around her neck.

Loudred opened up our door when we were just done to put on our gear.

"Oh... MORNING!" he greeted with a surprised look.

"Morning!" we called back before we followed him out of the room.

My friends and I headed into the main room and walked up to our usual spot.

The nightmare still bugged me.

'Why would my mind come up with something like this? Ugh... I just have to forget about it... My friends would never say something like that...'

That thought made me look at Riley. The Pikachu gave me a smile when she noticed my stare.

'Yeah... Just a stupid nightmare.'

The other guild members slowly entered the room and Wigglytuff and Chatot came out of the guildmaster's office.

We had to wait for probably another minute before Dusknoir floated down from the first floor.

The guildmaster greeted him happily and Chatot took one step forward, beginning the briefing.

"Okay, everyone! Today we are starting our search for the timegear-thief Grovyle!" the flying-type started. "Thanks to the great Dusknoir, we were able to find the possible locations of the remaining Time Gears."

The parrot-like Pokemon pulled out an enrolled map. "Put out your Wondermaps! I'm going to announce which team is going to patrol which area!"

Everybody opened up their own maps.

"Okay now! Listen up!" the flying-type got everyone's attention again.

Chatot proceeded by calling out groups of up to four Pokemon for each location.

We were the last group he announced. At that point, I already knew where we would be going.

"Team Ignition! You are going to explore Quicksand Desert!"

The flying-type showed us the desert on our map. It was at the northwestern part of the continent.

Ozu rolled up our map again and put it back into his backpack. "Understood!"

"Everyone! We have no idea what this thief is capable of! But considering that he was able to defeat a legendary Pokemon like Uxie, I must tell you to engage him with caution!" Chatot ordered. "Get to it and catch that thief!"

"HURRAY!" the whole guild cheered... Well, except for me and Dusknoir.

The others slowly left the room and right when me and my friends wanted to head out too, Dusknoir approached us. "Good luck!"

"Thank you, Dusknoir!" Riley replied with a smile.

The ghost-type's eye focused on me. "Be careful... You don't know what kind of fighting-style this Grovyle could use..."

'Did he just?... No...'

"We will! See ya!" Ozu responded.

We headed out of the guild and made our way towards the crossroad.

"Quicksand Desert... I heard that there are a lot of sandstorms... Should we do a quick stop at Kecleon's Market to prepare ourselves properly before we head out?" Ozu asked as we walked down the stairs, leading to the crossing.

"What kind of preparations do you mean?" Riley asked.

"Well, let's see if they can recommend us any gear that would be useful in a desert..." he answered.

"Fine by me." I responded.

Instead of taking the left path, we headed right and entered Treasure Town.

* * *

We made our way to the market and approached the counter.

"Hello, there!" Propo greeted when he noticed us.

"What can we do for you?" Verd asked with a smile.

"Hi! Well, we have a mission in the northern desert... Do you have some special gear that would make the job easier for us?" Ozu answered.

In a matter of second, the green Kecleon had pulled out a couple of items. A wide assortment of headscarves, desert coats and goggles was laying on the table in front of us.

"Of course we do!" he exclaimed.

"These desert coats will protect your body from the burning heat of the desert." Porpo explained, holding up one of the coats.

The cream-colored cloak had a hood attached to it. "No sunray will go through the sturdy fabric!"

Ozu took one of them and examined it. "What do you say? Should we buy them?"

"Sure!" me and Riley returned in union.

He had a embarrassed look on his face all of a sudden.

"Uhm... It would be great for you two but... Ehm..." The fire-type pointed at the flame that was coming out of his rear.

"Oh, don't worry! We have a special coat for fire-types too. That flame won't even leave a mark on it." the green Kecleon said, pulling another cloak.

This one was decorated with red lines around the bottom and the hood.

"Okay! We'll take them!" Ozu said with a smile, giving back the coat he was holding in his hand.

A wide smile formed on the shopkeeper's faces. "Can we interest you in one of the other items too? Those desert goggles would fit perfectly with those cloaks."

I grabbed one of them from the counter. The metal-frames for the glass had black-colored leather bands attached to them.

"They are very helpful, should you stumble into a sandstorm." Porpo explained.

A strange feeling rushed through my body while I examined them.

When a familiar headache entered my brain, I knew what was going on. Another memory.

_The edges of my vision were covered with the black flickering smoke again. I wasn't able to see where exactly I was. A black paw with a spike on its backside entered my view. A pair of desert goggles could be seen in it. I rose my head and saw the familiar black figure again. Like usual, the black smoke around it began to occupy my whole vision. _

_"I've got a little present for you..."_

"Ri?" I recognized Ozu's voice.

I shook my head and regained my awareness of reality. "Huh, what?"

"What's wrong?" he asked with a concerned voice.

Riley and the Kecleon brothers were giving me a confused look.

"Oh, sorry... Just a little headache..." I explained.

'The figure again... Ugh... I can't even remember that shred properly...'

The Chimchar gave me one last worried look, before he faced the shopkeepers again. "We will take three cloaks and two goggles..."

"That would be 2500 Poke..." Verd replied.

Ozu hesitated a bit before he pulled out a purse from his backpack.

"Here you go..." he said, handing the money over to the normal-type.

"Thanks a lot!" both of the Kecleons replied in union.

Ozu handed one cloak to Riley and one to me before he put on his own.

I put on the coat and bound it together with a leather band that was attached to the collar.

After that, I examined the glasses one more time before I tied them around my neck like a necklace.

Riley put her goggles into her pouch that was now under her cloak.

"You three look good!" Verd complimented us.

"Thank you!" we returned.

"Okay, we should get going." Ozu said as he turned towards the bridge, leading to the main square. "Bye!"

The Pikachu and I said good-bye too and followed him.

At the exit of Treasure Town, the fire-type made a little stop to check the map again.

After he had planned our route, we left the town and began our journey towards the desert.

* * *

We had only taken a few steps out of the town, when Ozu spoke up again.

"Another memory shred?" he questioned.

"Memory shred?" Riley threw in before I could answer.

I let out a deep sigh before I answered both of their questions. "I have these weird memory shreds sometimes... And after they shoot through my head, I'm not even able to remember them properly. The one I had back at the shop was the same..."

"Oh... Ri, you should really ask Chimecho about it... Maybe she can stop those headaches." the Chimchar suggested.

"I... don't want them to stop. They are the only connection to my past, I have." I returned with a serious voice.

"Did you remember something about your human life?" the Pikachu asked.

"No... We've already talked about all the things I remembered." I said with a sad tone.

She seemed a bit disappointed but after a while, she gave me a smile. "Well, you can call yourself lucky for those memories. The only thing I have is my name..."

"And the Dimensional Scream..." I added.

'Maybe she could use it to see the dark future or something about Grovyle... Hmmm... My pouch belonged to him... Yeah, that could work!"

The Pikachu gave me a somewhat confused look after my last comment.

'But I need to help Grovyle before that...'

* * *

The rest of our journey went by without any distractions.

The cloaks were a bit uncomfortable, before we reached the border of the desert but when we took our first step onto the sandy terrain, we were happy we had them.

The sun was brutal... Even with our equipment, I felt like I was melting. The hood provided my eyes a little protection from the bright light.

"It sure is hot..." Ozu muttered to himself.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Riley asked. Her voice sounded annoyed. The heat must have gotten on her nerves too.

"Well, there is something like a little canyon on the other side of the desert... Chatot mentioned that it's a Mystery Dungeon." he answered, wiping off some sweat from his chin. "I think we should explore it and see if we can find a Time Gear there..."

The fire-type was giving me a strange look all of a sudden. "Hey, Ri... Is it okay if we talk about the symbol-thing?"

"Symbol?" The Pikachu got confused.

"What about it?" I questioned, being rather curious about what he could want.

"Remember how it only showed up when you were near the Time Gear from the lake?" he asked. "Maybe it will show up again if we get near another one of them."

I pulled out my right paw from under my cloak and examined it. "It could work... I still have no idea what that thing is though. Maybe we can find out more about the symbol if we actually find another Time Gear..."

"What are you two talking about?" Riley looked a little upset.

"Well... Back at the expedition, when Uxie lead us to Fogbound Lake, a weird symbol began to glow on my paw." I explained.

"And it looked exactly like the gear, so I assume that it has to do something with them." the Chimchar added.

The electric-type processed the information, before she nodded in understanding. "So if that symbol shows up again, we know that we are at the right place."

* * *

Moving over the sand dunes was tough. We had to be careful not to slip and slide all the way down again.

Whenever one of us got thirsty or exhausted, we ate an Oran berry. Not only did they give us back our energy, they also rehydrated us.

After a couple of hours of walking, we were finally able to see the canyon.

"Look! I think that's the canyon!" I exclaimed. "Were almost there!"

Just then, the ground began to tremble.

**BGM: Barroth ~ Earth Sand and Firey Winds - Monster Hunter Tri (Extended)**

"Whoa, what is this?!" Ozu yelled, trying to keep his balance.

The sand in front of us slowly rose into the air.

"Quick! Get back!" I shouted at my friends, creating some distance between me and the rising ground with a jump.

They quickly ran next to me.

The hump of sand slowly revealed a creature. A purple, scorpion-like Pokemon was revealed as the sand slowly fell down from its body.

A huge Drapion was now towering in front of us. It had probably ten times of my height.

The scorpion looked down at us in a really strange way... Like I would have looked at an apple on my plate. 'Oh no...'

"What is this thing?!" Riley asked with a shocked expression on her face.

Ozu had to gulp before he could answer. "A Drapion! But they shouldn't be this big!"

The poison-type let out a roar before it slammed its right claw down at us.

We were able to jump out of the impact-zone and the huge purple arm simply dug into the sand.

The impact stirred up a lot of dust and occupied my vision on my friends.

'Dammit... How are we supposed to defeat something like this thing?! My normal moves won't have any effect!'

The giant Pokemon's eyes focused on me as its other claw shot towards me.

I used Extremespeed to evade the slash and quickly dashed behind the poison-type. 'Ugh... I could try to widdle it down with a few overcharged bones...'

After creating two bones in my paws, I jumped high up into the air, right above the Drapion's back.

The scorpion was attacking my friends at that moment, meaning that it was not paying any attention to me. 'Clear shot.'

By combining my ranged attack with Extremespeed, I was able to dish out a barrage of explosive bones at the Drapions back.

Another roar escaped the poison-type's mouth as it began to feel the impact from my attack.

I spun my body around and used Aerial Ace to fling myself towards my friends. My landing between them was a bit hard but the sand managed to soften my impact.

A cloud of smoke was streaming up from the Drapions back and I could clearly see that it was in pain. The ground-type move was super-effective after all.

I was feeling drained and panted. My assault had used up a lot of aura.

"Are you okay?" Ozu asked when he noticed.

"Yeah..." I answered weakly. "We need to make a run for it. My attack won't stop that thing for long!"

We quickly ran past the huge scorpion and tried to reach the entrance of the dungeon.

The now enraged Pokemon turned around and followed us. The scorpion was able to travel over the sand much faster than us, meaning that it would catch up to us soon.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Ozu called over to me while we were running for our lives.

The Drapion was coming closer and closer as we struggled to run over the dunes.

"Just run for the dungeon!" I called back.

We had almost reached the entrance to the canyon when I heard a scream next to me.

Riley had slipped and fell down onto her face.

I dug my feet into the ground to slow myself down.

"Keep going! I'll get her!" I ordered while I turned around and concentrated on Extremespeed.

When I pushed my right foot into the sand, to launch myself forward, the soft surface gave in and made me lose my balance. 'Dammit!'

The Pikachu had just gotten up when the huge poison-type brought down its claw towards her.

I could only watch with wide open eyes as the purple arm slowly came closer to her. "RILEY!"

I closed my eyes when the giant claw was just about to crush her. 'No...'

My eyes shot open when something grabbed my arm and pulled me backwards.

I turned around to see Riley, pulling me towards the entrance of the dungeon.'What?! How did she...?'

Just then I heard the sound from the impact behind us.

We quickly catched up to Ozu. I took one last glimpse of the poison-type which was trying to pull out its arm from the sand.

When we finally reached the opening that lead into the canyon, we quickly rushed inside to hide from the monster.

**Stop** **music**

* * *

The "dungeon feeling" ran through my body again, when we entered the first floor of the dungeon.

My friends and I were panting hard, trying to catch out breath from the long sprint.

"That was... close." Riley said, giving me a grin.

"How... did you... do that?" I asked.

The Pikachu just gave me a smile. "Well, that's my secret."

She emphasized on the "my", what made me feel a little uneasy.

"Okay... We made it to the dungeon..." The Chimchar let out a sigh of relief. "Now we just have to make it through."

Riley took the lead, while Ozu and I followed. Just like usual.

The dungeon had a lot of ground and rock-types in it. Though I was able to see cactus-like grass-types too.

My friends had a bad type-matchup for this dungeon, meaning that I had to fight most of our battles.

I used the modified Gavylian-style and tried to master the new movements. My first few strikes weren't as effective as they would have been with the original style. Most of the wild Pokemon were able to withstand more than one hit.

But after a while, I was getting close to the force the swipes could deliver.

We were probably halfway through the dungeon when a sandstorm came up.

I untied the desert goggles from my neck and put them on. They were really helpful. Without them, I wouldn't have seen anything in the storm.

After we had explored the floor for a while, we found the source of the sandstorm.

When we entered a room, a Tyranitar stared at us with a bloodthirsty look.

Two overcharged bones and a Force Palm to the rock and dark-type's stomach took care of the problem. The Pokemon faded into black smoke and the sandstorm slowly ended.

With the storm gone, I tied my glasses around my neck again.

The remaining floors didn't cause any trouble for us. And we quickly arrived at the last pair of stairs.

* * *

We finally left the dungeon and found ourselves at the other side of the canyon. Rock formations and few pits of quicksand were all around us.

"And now?" Riley questioned with a confused face.

There was no visible way to go on.

'Hmmm... What did Grovyle say about the desert? Something about quicksand and a lake... But can I let them find the Time Gear? I'm sure they would send someone to protect it...'

"It's a dead-end... I think we should head back." I suggested.

"Huh? Why?" Ozu seemed a bit surprised.

The Pikachu next to me seemed to be in deep thought all of a sudden... She didn't even respond to my suggestion.

"Have you checked your paw yet? Maybe the symbol did show up again." the fire-type was persistent.

'Ugh... If it really showed up, they would insist on exploring further... But... I could learn more about it.'

I hesitated a moment before I pulled out my paw from my cloak.

A sigh of relief and at the same time disappointment, escaped my mouth. "Nope... I guess we are wrong here."

"Oh..." he seemed a bit disappointed too. "Well, I guess we should head back and report that we didn't find anything."

The fire-type pulled out his explorer-badge. He poked Riley's shoulder and pulled her pack into reality. "Are you ready?"

"Huh... Oh, okay." she replied, pulling out her own badge.

I hesitated a bit before I considered to take out mine too. 'Wait... If Grovyle hasn't been to the desert yet... Maybe I could leave him a message.'

"What's wrong Ri?" Ozu asked, noticing that my badge was still missing.

"Oh, you don't have to wait for me... Just gotta look for my badge really quick." I answered, acting like I was looking for something in my pouch.

My friends shrugged and pressed onto the buttons on their badges. They disappeared with a bright flash of light.

'What now? Write something into the sand? No... Ugh, if I had a piece of pa...'

Just then I remembered Dusknoir's autograph that I still had in my pouch.

'That's it! The "HELLO" would tell Grovlye that I was here before him! And Dusknoir's signature... That would inform him about Duskoir! And if Dusknoir sends somebody else from the guild here and they find it, I could just say that I lost it here...'

I immediately executed my idea and placed the paper in front of the biggest quicksand pit. A little stone on top of it hindered the sheet from flying away.

After my plan was done, I quickly pulled out my badge and pressed the button.

A bright light engulfed me and when I regained my vision again, I found myself back in front of the staircase that lead to the guild.

It was late afternoon by now.

"What took you so long?" Riley questioned. "We were getting worried."

I put my badge back into my "hip-pouch" and rubbed the back of my head. "Sorry, couldn't find my badge."

We made our way back into the guild and approached the guildmaster's office.

Riley knocked onto the door a couple of times and after a few seconds, Chatot walked out of the room.

"Oh, Team Ignition." he said, closing the door behind him. "Were you able to find something?"

"Uhm... No... We were able to clear the dungeon but only found a dead-end at the other side." Ozu reported with a somewhat disappointed voice.

"Oh... I see." The flying-type seemed to be disappointed too.

"Well, we can only hope that the other teams might find something! We will go over our finding at dinner... You are dismissed!" he continued, turning towards the door again.

My friends and I headed into our room and put off our desert coats. I wanted to take off the goggles too but when I held them in my paw I decided to put the back onto my neck again. Something about them seemed familiar to me. I just didn't know what.

"Whew... Ready for some more training?" I asked the Chimchar with a smirk.

"Actually... How about we go to Torkoal's Spring today? A bath would be great after that walk in the desert." he answered.

Just then I noticed how dirty my fur was. It was full of sand and the blue was now mixed with a cream/grayish color.

"A bath would sure be nice!" I said, rubbing the back of my head again.

"Okay, let's go!" Riley said with a smile on her face.

We left the guild and headed to the exit of Treasure Town again.

My friends lead me to the hot spring and it took us about half an hour to reach it.

A little staircase lead up to the spring which was on top of a small hill.

The pond was edged with stones and steaming water was inside the it.

A few Pokemon were already bathing in the spring and a Torkoal was standing on a big rock at other side of the pool.

I recognized one of the bathing Pokemon.

"Marowak?" I asked as me and my friends walked up to the water.

He looked rather embarrassed to see us. "Ri! Ozu! Riley! What are you three doing here?"

"We want to take a bath of course!" I gave the dojo-owner a mischievous grin. "The better question should be what you are doing here."

The ground-type turned even redder than he already was. "Oh... Ehm... I just had a really, really hard training session and nobody visited the dojo, so..."

"Well, how about you come out here for a second... I worked on the new style today and I think I got the hang of the new movements. I need you to see if it's really finished or not." I ordered with a smile.

The Marowak quickly climbed out from the spring and the two of us created some distance between us and the spring.

My friends had already hopped into the hot water when I created the two bones in my paws. The other Pokemon seemed to be curious about what I would demonstrate.

"Okay! Show me the new movements!" Marowak instructed, crossing his arms.

I did as told and showed him all of Grovyle's modified movements. I was able to do the back-stab motion fluidly after the dash now.

When all I was finished, I let my bones disappear and walked up to Marowak.

"I would say that you're good to go!" he said with a smile. "How should we name that new style of yours?"

"A new name?" I asked, bringing my paw up to my chin.

"Hmm... Well, it should be something that describes it's new purpose..." It took me a while, but I was able to come up with a new fitting name.

"Gentok-style? You know, "Gentle Knockout "... It would fit..." I suggested.

The ground-type shrugged. "It's your style, so it's your name... I think it fits."

A smile formed on my face. "Thank you, Marowak!"

I looked over to my friends who were looking at me from the spring.

A mischievous grin formed on my face when I faced Marowak again. "Now would you excuse me? I'm going to check out that spring now."

With that, I threw off all my equipment and rushed towards the water. I jumped up into the air, preparing a water bomb.

A huge wave slammed onto my friends and all the other Pokemon, when I made impact.

Not my greatest idea.

The water was hot... Like really hot...

"Ahh! Hot! Dammit! Aaahhh!" I screamed as I tried to get out of the pond.

At first, the other Pokemon felt offended but when they saw my struggle to puddle out of the water, they simply burst into laughter.

When I finally reached the edge of the pool, my body had already gotten used to the heat.

I let out a deep sigh while I slowly walked up to my friends, who were still laughing from the scene they just had witnessed.

"Ugh... At least we're clean now!" I said, rubbing the back of my head.

We probably stayed at the spring for an hour until we had to head back to the guild for dinner.

When I stepped out of the pool, my fur was soaked in water. I dried myself off by shaking my body like a dog would have.

Riley gave me a somewhat shocked look.

When I noticed what I had just done I turned red. "Ehehe... I guess I'm really used to being a Riolu."

My friends and I said good-bye to everyone and made our way back to Treasure Town.

After another half hour, we arrived at the guild.

* * *

We climbed down to the second floor and made a quick stop at our room to take off our gear.

Just then, Chimecho announced the dinner and we quickly made our way to the dinning hall.

I frowned when Dusknoir joined us and sat down next to me again.

Before we began to eat, Chatot got everyone's attention. "Okay, everyone! I'm sad to announce that not a single one of our teams was able to find the location of a Time Gear or a trace of Grovyle!"

A sigh escaped the flying-type's mouth. "We are going to continue our search tomorrow... I will explain our next approach at the morning briefing."

The parrot took place on his seat again. "Enjoy your meals!"

I had eaten about two and a half apples, when Dusknoir poked my shoulder.

"Did you find anything in the desert?" he questioned. "Quicksand Desert was one of our main guesses."

'Heh, sure it was... You know where the Time Gears are.'

I took another bite from the apple, I was holding in my paw. "Nope... We just found a giant Drapion that tried to kill us and a dead-end with a couple of quicksand pits."

"Oh... Well, that's too bad." he responded.

The ghost-type luckily didn't ask any more questions.

We finished our meals and my friends and I headed into our room.

I sat onto my bed and untied the goggles from my neck.

My friends were talking about something, however, I wasn't paying attention to them.

Just like earlier, I examined the glasses for a while before I put them next to my bed.

I didn't know why they looked so familiar to me. They were just a pair of goggles but whenever I looked at them, a weird feeling rushed through my body... It almost felt like I was missing something... Or someone.

"Ri?" Ozu asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. "What do you say? Should we check out the desert again?"

"Huh? Why?" I was a little surprised by his question.

"Well, I think that that dead-end, wasn't a dead-end after all!" Riley explained with a serious look. "I don't know how... But I think I've been in that desert before."

Sweat was forming on my forehead. 'Right... She has been there in the future... But what if Grovyle shows up there tomorrow? Ugh...'

"I don't think that it would be a good idea. Remember that giant Drapion? We might not be so lucky like we have been today!" I tried to dissuade her.

"But tomorrow we know that the thing is there! We can try to bypass it's territory!" The Pikachu was persistent.

"But the symbol didn't..." I tried one more time but she interrupted me.

"Please! I know that something is there!" There was nothing I could say to stop her.

'But... Ugh... I just hope Grovyle won't be there. And the message I left for him... I already have a plausible explanation for it.'

I let out a deep sigh. "Fine."

We kept on talking for a while until the lack of sunlight in our room indicated us that it was nighttime.

"Well, I guess we should rest. We might have to outrun that Drapion again." Riley said, giving me a grin.

"Not funny." I replied blankly. "I was really worried about you back then."

Her grin faded and she looked a bit guilty for her carefree attitude towards her near-death situation. "Sorry..."

I brought myself into a comfortable sleeping position. "Good night."

"Good night..." my friends returned.

I had a lot to think about but I just wanted to get some sleep... The stress from the last couple of days really tired me out.

Not wanting to stress my brain even further, I tried to put my mind to rest and simply drift into sleep.

A few thoughts simply wouldn't leave my head.

'What if we meet him tomorrow? Should I just tell them right away? What if they would try to fight him? I... Who should I fight then? Ugh...'

That last thought worried me the most.

'Which side would I choose if my friends wouldn't listen to me?'

I pushed that question away and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 15**


	16. Deal with the Devil

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 16 - Deal with the Devil**

* * *

_"I'm... I'm not Riley." I said to the Grovyle in front of me._

_Something about him was off. His normally black iris had an ice-blue color which sent a shiver down my spine for some reason.  
_

_His head sank towards the ground as he extended the leaves on his arms. "You're not?"_

_Shocked by his reaction, I took one step back. "B-but I will still help you!"_

_"It doesn't matter. I can't risk that some random Riolu knows everything about my mission." The grass-type took one step forward, raising his blade._

_"Grovyle! Please, I can..." A slash to my chest silenced me._

* * *

I gasped and my eyes shot open. My whole body jumped and was covered in sweat.

Sitting myself up, I brought my right paw to my forehead.

'Oh my god... Another nightmare...'

My friends were still asleep and a faint ray of sunlight was shining through our window.

My breath was trembling as I tried to calm down from the unpleasant dream.

'I... Grovyle would never do something like that. Ugh... Don't think about it. Just another dream.'

After a shocking scene like that, there was no way I would be able to sleep again.

I grabbed the goggles that were laying next to my bed and tied them around my neck again.

After that, I hopped out of my bed and put on the rest of my gear.

Riley and Ozu woke up from the noise I made.

"Ri?" the Chimchar asked groggily, rubbing his eyes in the process.

"Morning." I responded with a forced smile.

"Good morning." my friends returned in union.

After a while, they had gotten out of their beds too and made themselves ready for the briefing.

When our door slowly opened and Loudred was just about to make his morning call, the three of us interrupted him.

"Up and at 'em. It's morning."

The normal-type had to laugh for a while before he responded. "Hahaha, MORNING!"

We returned his smile and followed him out of our room.

At the main hall, we walked to our usual spot and waited for the briefing to begin.

After a couple of minutes, everyone was present and Chatot took one step forward to begin his morning speech.

"Today, we are going to continue our search for Grovyle! We might not have been able to find the actual location of a Time Gear, but we can still patrol the area's in order to find the thief!" the flying-type announced. "You are free to choose which location you want to operate in! Okay! Get to it!"

While the other guild members headed to the ladder, me and my friends went back to our room to grab our desert cloaks.

After putting them on, we left the guild and made out way to the desert again.

* * *

On the way, I was worried to meet Grovyle. That nightmare had brought up yet another fear, which stressed me out even more.

The journey didn't take us as long as last time. We already knew the right way to go.

When we reached the border of the desert again, we stopped.

"Do you really think we can outrun that thing again?" the Chimchar asked anxiously.

"Or we could try to beat it." I suggested, trying to figure out a strategy to defeat the giant Pokemon. "Either way, we should get going... We still need to get through that desert."

It took us a couple hours to see the canyon again. At first, we were very cautious because of the huge poison-type that could've popped up any moment.

But after crossing a big dune, our anxiety turned into shock.

The Drapion we had feared was laying motionless on the ground in front of us.

The sand around it was covered with a green liquid and a lot of deep cuts could be seen on the poison-type.

A loud whimper escape the giant's mouth when it noticed us.

"Oh my god." The scene sent a shiver down my spine.

"W-what should we do?" Ozu stuttered. "W-we could just leave it and walk straight for the canyon."

"No..." I answered with a serious voice. "If we don't help that Drapion, it might... Ugh..."

"But Ri! That thing tried to kill us just yesterday!" he responded.

"I don't care!" I yelled back at him. "Come on! I need your help!"

I ran down the dune we were standing on and approached the injured Pokemon.

There was only one Pokemon that could have cut up that giant like this.

'He... Grovyle was here! But that means... Ugh... I don't have time to think about that now, I need to help this Drapion.'

My friends followed me when I walked up to the giant's mouth.

"I don't think one that Oran berry will be enough..." I muttered, pulling out a paw full of berries from my pouch.

The huge Pokemon's eyes were watching us closely as we tried to bring up enough berries that would help something of it's size.

Both of my paws were full when I held the pile of Oran berries directly in front of the Drapions mouth.

Another whimper came from the scorpion before it opened up its maw.

After throwing the berries into it, we quickly created some distance between us and the poison-type.

The scorpion-like Pokemon swallowed the berries and immediately got back onto its feet.

A roar of joy escaped the Drapion's mouth.

The Pokemon was giving me a wide smile when it brought it's head down to me and my friends.

"Uhm... No problem..." I said nervously.

"What is it doing?" the scared Chimchar next to me asked.

The giant was buzzing happily with his mandibles and gave me a thankful look.

A chuckle escaped Riley's mouth. "I think it likes you!"

I responded with a somewhat annoyed smile before I faced the Drapion again.

"Well, we gotta go now. And by the way, I'm sorry for your back." I said, taking one step away from the Pokemon.

It shook its head in response, indicating me that it was all forgotten.

"Thank you." I was relieved that the Drapion didn't hold a grudge against me.

The scorpion let out another happy roar before it slowly walked to a sandpit that was a couple of feet away from us.

When the giant Pokemon approached the hole, a swarm of Skorupi crawled out of the nest. The poison-type bent down to the little Pokemon and nudged them with its head.

"Oh, I understand now! That Drapion is a mother! She just wanted to protect her babies when she attacked us yesterday." Ozu concluded.

"More like feed them..." I commented, remembering the first time we met the scorpion.

The mother and her babies were giving us one last smile before we waved at them and turned around to continue our journey.

* * *

On the way, I went back to my thoughts about Grovyle.

'If it really was Grovyle who did that to the Drapion... That means he is here! Those wounds looked pretty fresh. He would be in the dungeon right now... Ugh... We could run into him... I need to buy him some time to get the Time Gear.'

We reached the canyon again. I stopped my friends before they could enter the dungeon.

"Uhm... Can we make a little rest?" I asked.

They were a little surprised. "Huh? Why?"

"Well, I'm a little exhausted from the journey... I want to be fit when we go through that dungeon again." I answered.

They shrugged and sat down onto the ground. "Okay."

'Okay... Now I just need to waste some more time in the dungeon and Grovyle should be good to go.'

We used the break and had a little lunch. Ozu pulled out three apples from his backpack and handed one to each of us.

This time, I tried to eat the apples with "normal" speed, which resulted in confused looks from my friends.

Eating that slow was quite hard for me actually.

After we had finished our meals, we entered the dungeon.

Just like yesterday, I handled most of our confrontations.

Though this time, I purposely didn't knock out the wild Pokemon in one hit. This gave me some time to work on my normal hand to hand combat.

My friends found it a little odd, but I just told them that I wanted to train my normal fighting-style. A believable excuse.

To my dismay, the layout of the floors was very simple. Most of the times, we just had to clear one room to find the staircase that lead to the next floor.

Though we lost some time when we "luckily" came across a Monsterhouse.

It felt like we had been in the dungeon for about half an hour until we arrived the the final staircase.

We left the dungeon and found ourselves at the dead-end again.

"Okay, here we are. What now?" Ozu questioned looking at the Pikachu next to him.

She was rubbing her chin with her paw. "I don't know... I think that there is some secret behind those quicksand pits."

While she was speculating, I looked for the note I had left for Grovyle.

My friends were discussing about possible solutions to the "dead-end problem", when I walked up to spot where I had placed the paper.

Dusknoir's autograph was gone.

'He... He found it! Okay... Grovyle was definitively here. But... Has he found the Time Gear yet? And if he did... He would have to come back here. If we wait too long... Ugh...'

"YOU WANT TO DO WHAT?!" Ozu yelled, drawing my attention to my friends again.

"Hey, it's worth a try!" Riley replied with a confident look.

I walked back to my friends. "What is worth a try?"

"She wants to jump into the quicksand!" the Chimchar explained, visibly shocked by the idea.

"Jump into the pit?" I tried to remember what Grovyle told me about Quicksand Desert. 'Hmm... Grovyle mentioned something about a lake... Maybe... There could be a lake or a cave-system under that quicksand.'

Ozu was yelling at the Pikachu, telling her how stupid and dangerous her idea was, when a noise made my ears twitch.

"Pssst..." I looked into the direction it was coming from.

I gasped and my eyes shot open when I saw the head of a Grovyle, peeking out from behind a boulder.

'It... It's him! I... need to find a way to...'

"So what do you think?" Riley asked, patting me on the shoulder.

Her touch made me jump. "Huh?! What?!"

"Should we try it?" The Pikachu gave me a confused look when she noticed my shocked expression. "Are you alright? You're a little pale..."

"Oh... Uhm... Yeah, I'm fine." I said nervously, taking a quick glance behind me.

Grovyle was nowhere to be seen.

"What do you think?" Ozu threw in with a worried voice.

I brought my paw up to my chin, resulting in expectant looks from my friends.

'Okay... I need to find a way to split up with them... They want to jump into the sand pits... I need to find an excuse to stay up here a little longer... Hmmm... Wait... I know!'

"Hey, Ozu. Do you still have that rope in your backpack?" I asked, putting my hand down.

The Chimchar immediately understood what I was thinking of. "That could work."

He put his backpack on the ground and pulled the rope out of it.

"Okay, I'll hold it and pull you back up if something happens!" I said, grabbing the rope out of his hand.

He nodded and helped me to unroll it.

"Okay, I'm going to bind it around my belly and hold you two up. Just bind the rope around you too. If you find something down there, pull on it three times and I'll follow you." I explained, beginning to attach the rope to my body.

"Are you sure you can hold the both of us? And what if there's nothing down there and we sufficate in the sand?" Ozu's anxiety wasn't very helpful at that moment.

The Pikachu grabbed his shoulder. "We will find something! I know we will!"

The still not convinced Chimchar gave her a worried look. "How can you say that?"

"I just know... Come on! Don't you trust me?" she asked.

Her question changed something in the fire-type. His anxious attitude was blown away immediately. "I do... Okay, let's do this!"

After everything was set, my friends walked up to the biggest quicksand pit.

"Okay... We're going to do this!" Riley announced, preparing herself to jump into the pit.

"Are you ready, Ri?" Ozu asked, getting ready himself.

I gave them a thumb up and fastened my grip on the rope.

"Three!" The Chimchar started the countdown.

"Two!" the Pikachu continued.

"One!" I exclaimed.

"GO!" we yelled in union as my friends jumped into the quicksand.

A scream escaped their mouths as they got swallowed by the sand.

When they were completely gone, I began to feel the pull from the rope.

Just when I wanted to call out to Grovyle, the sand under my feet gave in and I slowly began to slide towards the hole.

"Dammit!" I yelled, trying to get some grip on the sand.

The edge was coming closer and closer as I struggled to keep myself from falling into the quicksand.

Suddenly, a green blur moved into the corner of my view and the pull stopped.

Grovyle was holding onto the rope with his left claw. The leaves on his other arm were extended and just about to cut through the rope.

"No! Don't!" I shouted.

He stopped his blade right before it was about to touch it.

The grass-type looked into my eyes with a confused look.

"Okay, there isn't much time to explain everything!" I said, feeling the three pulls from my friends. "That Warp Orb teleported me to an exploration guild. They fixed me up and I joined one of their teams... They got a wanted poster from you and now whole Treasure Town is looking for you! Dusknoir is here too!"

Grovyle wanted to open his mouth and ask a question, but I interrupted him and kept going.

"Listen... Me and my friends are looking for the Time Gear right now. If we find it, the guild is going to sent a lot of guards here, so you need to take it now! Wait a moment before you follow us down there. Should we meet... Ugh... You might have to fight us... I will act like I'm defeated after one hit and maybe hinder my friends from fighting... But if they still decide to keep going... Please! Don't hurt them! When I'm back at the guild I can see if Dusknoir plans any traps for you, so we have to meet again at Crystal Cave! I will explain you everything when we meet there."

He processed all the information and gave me a nod. "Okay, Riley."

The name made me bite my lip. "There is else something I have to tell you..."

The grass-type's expression turned confused again.

"I'm... I'm not... Ugh..."

I hesitated before I tried to continue.

The full sentence never left my lips.

A strong pull from the rope made him lose his grip and dragged me into the quicksand. "Aaah!"

My vision went black as the sand quickly surrounded me.

A claustrophobic feeling rushed through my body. I wasn't able to move an inch, while the sand around me dragged me down.

Luckily, it didn't last very long. My feet pushed through the ceiling of what was underneath the pit.

The rest of my body followed and I fell down onto a sand hump. I fell directly onto my tail what sent a jolt of pain through my whole body. "Ngh!"

I got back onto my feet and nursed my tail with my paws. "God damn that hurts..."

After letting my tail swing back behind me, I inspected my surroundings. I was in a circular room with a huge pile of sand in the middle. Thin streams of sand were falling down from above.

"We did it!" Ozu cheered from behind me.

I turned around and faced my friends.

They were untying the rope around their bellies. I did the same and Ozu put the rope back into his backpack.

My head sank towards the ground. 'Dammit... I couldn't tell him...'

"Come on, Ri! Let's see if we can find the Time Gear!" Riley said, making me rise my head again.

"Keep an eye on your paw!" she added, pointing at my hand under my cloak.

"Right." I nodded.

* * *

We walked deeper into the cave-system and found that it was a dungeon.

The Pokemon we encountered were pretty much the same one's we have seen up in the canyon. The only difference was that most of them were fully evolved.

We also saw a few bat-like Pokemon. A few Zubat and Noibat flew around at the ceiling of the hallways.

One of them tried to confuse us with its Supersonic. My friends were hit and got disoriented. I calmed myself down and used the Own Tempo ability, Spinda had taught me. The sound-wave went right through me and... Nothing happened.

I smirked and knocked the Zubat out with a kick to its face.

After that I had to collect my friends, who were stumbling aimlessly through the room.

After a while, we finally reached the last staircase.

A huge cavern with a lake in the middle was in front of us when we came out of the dungeon. A turquoise light was luminating from the bottom of the underground lake.

"Wow..." Ozu seemed to be amazed by what he saw.

I immediately knew what the source of the light was, when I pulled my paw out from under my cloak.

"Look, it's glowing again."

My friends walked up to me and examined the symbol at the back of my hand.

"It really looks like a gear..." Riley commented.

Ozu quickly turned around and ran to the edge of the water.

He gasped while we were slowly walking up to the lake too.

"A Time Gear!" The fire-type faced me again. "So it really just shows up when you are near one."

Riley and I reached the water and the Time Gear came into my view.

'Another Time Gear... Grovyle hopefully arrives here when we are already gone... I hope that...'

"Ngh!"

A wave of dizziness rushed through my body as I clutched my head with my left paw.

The symbol on my right one was glowing brightly now.

'Ugh... It wasn't that bright before...'

"Ri? What's wrong?" Riley noticed the expression of pain on my face.

"I... Don't know..." I said, turning around and walking away from the lake.

While doing so, I kept a close look to the gear on my paw. The further I got away from the water, the dimmer the symbol got.

My friends followed me.

"Are you okay?" Ozu asked with a worried voice.

The dizzy feeling slowly faded and the symbol was barely visible now.

"Yeah... Just felt a little dizzy." I answered with a confused tone.

"Sorry for being late! Had a little break from guardian duty!" a female voice said all of a sudden.

The voice wasn't actually audible... The words just appeared in my head, just like with Uxie, back at Fogbound Lake.

"Who's there?!" Ozu called out, scanning the room for a possible owner.

The female chuckled. "Well, well, well... Looks like I've gotten myself three timegear-thieves."

We were shocked by her accusation... Especially me.

"What?! No! We are not the thieves! We are here to stop the real one!" Ozu yelled into the air.

Another chuckle echoed through the air as a bright sphere of light began to form near the edge of the lake.

The sphere gave of a flash and revealed a Pokemon in its place.

A Mesprit was floating in the air, giving us a smirk.

"W-who are you?" Riley asked with surprised look.

"I'm Mesprit, the guardian of Underground Lake!" she answered with her actual voice.

The psychic-type folded her arms. "There's no way of tricking me... I can read your emotions and I feel a desire to steal the Time Gear in two of you."

The floating Pokemon was able to shock us again... And again, especially me...

We looked at each other.

"Two of us? But..." Ozu tried to say but Mesprit interrupted him.

"I'll have to fight you now. You know, defeating the bad-guys, reclaiming the already stolen Time Gears..." She unfolded her arms and her eyes began to glow in a blue light.

I tensed up. "I guess we have to fight her... Don't think about what she said, let's finish this first."

The Pikachu nodded and put off her desert coat.

Ozu and I did the same and got ready to fight the psychic-type.

"Let me try to take her on alone." I said, taking one step forward.

"Are you sure?" the Chimchar next to me asked with a concerned voice.

"Oh, come on! Ri, we are a team!" Riley protested.

I looked into the glowing eyes of my opponent. "Three on one wouldn't be fair... Right?"

She responded with another chuckle. "Oh! A thief that cares about honor! I'm surprised!"

A growl escaped my mouth as I created two bones in my paws and got into Grovyle's basic stance.

"Stupid fighting-type... Thinks she stands a chance against a legendary psychic." the Mesprit taunted.

I dashed forward and concentrated on Extremespeed. Time around me slowed down as I ran behind the psychic-type and jumped up to bring my baton to the back of her head.

Just when I pulled in my arm to throw it forward, all of my muscles locked themselves into place and the effect of Extremespeed faded.

"What the?!"

I was just floating in the air, held in place by an invisible force.

Mesprit chuckled yet again and turned around to face me. "Pretty fast... But not fast enough."

"Ri!" my friends called over to me.

Riley's cheeks were sparkling with electricity...

"Stay out of this!" I yelled past the psychic-type.

I struggled to break free of my opponent's psychic grip. "Hmph... What... Is this?!"

"Oh, that is just a little Psychic attack. And that isn't even all I can do with it." A smirk appeared on her face. "Let me show you."

Her psychic powers slowly raised me into the air.

When my vision quickly wandered towards the ground beneath me, I braced myself for an inevitable impact. 'Dammit.'

I slammed face first onto the floor and my bones disappeared in my hands. "Ngh!"

The psychic-type lifted me up again. I could feel that blood was dripping down from my nose. My vision was blurry and my ears were ringing.

'Dammit! I need to do something!'

I tried to free myself again but my limbs didn't respond. My arms and legs were just loosely hanging down from my body.

'Move! God dammit!'

The Mesprit slammed me down again like a ragdoll.

"RI!" the Pikachu had already taken a few steps forward when another shout stopped her.

"Don't!" I yelled as the psychic-type lifted me up from the ground again.

My whole body screamed that it was in pain. I looked down at it and saw that it was covered with bruises. My nose was bleeding even worse than before.

'Come on... There has to be a way to get out of her grip... Extremespeed? No... Force Palm? No...'

I grit my teeth.

'Attract? Ugh... What the hell am I thinking?!'

"Ohoho! A sturdy one!" The Mesprit gave me a grin. "Well, I had my fun with you... Let's finish this..."

She let me float away from her, creating some distance between us.

I was now near the edge of the lake again. Another wave of dizziness rished through my body as the glow on my paw became noticable again.

The psychic-type gave me one last smirk before she created dozens of violet projectiles made of psychic energy around me. Psyshock.

I closed my eyes. One wave of pain after another shot though my body.

Not even able to scream, I fell onto the ground...

A ringing was sent into my ear as I made impact with the ground

Pain... My brain was overwhelmed by the signals my body was sending.

Barely able to hold onto consciousness, I could only watch as the Mesprit turned around to face my friends.

"Weak..." My ears were able to hear those last words from her.

'Weak.'

I shifted between consciousness and unconsciousness while my friends were fighting her. I heard them call out to me a couple of times and felt the heat from Ozu's flames whenever I was aware of my surroundings.

'I need to get... Ugh...' A wave of weakness rushed through my aching body.

I wasn't able to think properly... The pain was occupying my senses...

...

There was one word that echoed through my mind while I lost my consciousness for good.

'Weak.'

I heard my friends scream again.

'Weak.'

_Weak...  
_

...

I did not think the second one.

_Pathetic._

There was a strange voice in my head.

'Who's there?'

_Are you angry?_

'What...?'

I heard another call of my friends.

'I don't know... Am I?'

_Do you want to beat her?_

'Of course, I do...'

_Good..._

The voice disappeared and I regained the awareness of my surroundings again.

My body was still in pain but I managed to ignore it somehow. A certain feeling was driving my body to raise itself from the ground.

Anger.

My eyes shot open as I got back onto my feet. Riley and Ozu were covered in bruises. The psychic-type let out another chuckle as she lunged a Psyshock attack at my friends.

I grit my teeth when the Pikachu and the Chimchar got thrown back by the violet projectiles.

That was it. My eyes locked onto the Mesprit as I shot my body towards her.

When the psychic-type noticed my assault, my right fist was already in her face.

"Aagh!" A scream of pain escaped her mouth as she got pushed back.

Her eyes began to glow again and I felt her psychic powers around my body again.

This time she wasn't able to stop me though. Her psychic-grip got lifted when a burst of black aura radiated from my body.

_Hmph..._

The legendary's expression turned shocked as the aura faded into the air.

Her eyes met mine and I was able to see something inside of hers... Fear.

I used the momentum from my punch to make a 180 degree spin and threw my left elbow into the floating Pokemon's stomach.

Another right fist flew into her face. Then a left one and another one from the right.

I could see a few droplets of blood coming from her mouth when I brought my knee into the legendary's stomach again.

The psychic-type wasn't even floating anymore. Her feet were dragging behind her on the floor as a barrage of brutal attacks pushed her back further and further.

One final kick to the Mesprit's face sent her flying away from me.

She landed on her back and wasn't moving anymore. Her white body was now covered with bruises and red stains of blood.

I had won, but I wasn't satisfied.

"GET UP!" I yelled at the probably unconscious Pokemon.

No response.

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?!" I slowly walked up to the psychic-type. "I SAID, GET UP!"

I kneeled down and grabbed her by the neck with my paw. The Pokemon really was unconscious as not even shaking her caused any sort of response.

I pulled my fist back. "Cocky bitch. Look who's weak now."

"Ri?! What are you doing?!" Riley called out from behind me.

I turned around to see her looking at me with wide open eyes.

She seemed to be shocked about something. Her eyes were fixed on mine as she muttered something under her breath.

I looked over to Ozu, who was just getting up from the ground. He had a similar look on his face.

Something seemed to terrify them.

When I looked back at the Pokemon I was holding in my arm, I knew what had startled them.

My anger turned into shock when I saw the brutally beaten Mesprit I was holding up with my hand.

I immediately let go of the psychic-type and looked down at my paws. My eyes widened when I saw that my fur was covered with red stains of blood. I also became aware of my own wounds again.

The blood didn't match the spots where I felt the pain, meaning that... It wasn't mine.

"W-what...?" Not able to comprehend what I had just done, I took one step away from the unconscious Pokemon.

My stomach began to turn sick as a dark thought entered my mind.

"N-no... No!" I yelled, taking another step back.

I looked to my friends again... They were looking at me like I was some kind of monster.

My view went behind them, towards the exit of the dungeon.

The worst thing that could have happened, happened and I gasped when I saw that Grovyle just entered the cavern.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 16**


	17. The Accomplice

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

I'm going to do a little experiment in this chapter! You'll see what I mean...

I'll tell you more about it at the end.

* * *

**Chapter 17 - The Accomplice**

* * *

I fell to my knees and looked back onto my paws.

That my friends just noticed the grass-type behind them wasn't important to me at that moment.

'What have I done? Why would I do something like that? Say things like that? Did I really...'

My vision turned back to the unconscious Mesprit behind me. I had to know if she was okay... I could never forgive myself if I had actually killed the Pokemon.

Riley was calling out to me... I didn't pay any attention to her though.

I got onto my shaky legs and walked over to the psychic-type. I almost fell down besides her and brought my right ear to her mouth.

My friends were yelling at me now but I turned off their voices and concentrated on the sound of breathing from the legendary.

A stone fell from my heart when I heard that she was still breathing...

'I... I didn't kill her... But... What if she has inner bleedings? I need to help her somehow.'

I pulled out an Oran berry from my pouch and held it over her mouth.

'Please, work...'

After opening the psychic-type's mouth, I pressed out some juice from the berry and let the blue liquid drip into it.

"Come on..." I muttered, trying to bring the Mesprit to swallow the liquid.

...

I let out a sigh of relief when the Pokemon gulped and let out a faint cough afterwards.

Some of her bruises disappeared.

'Okay... Her internal wounds should be healed too.'

The legendary was still unconscious but at least she would be okay.

I rose my head and tried to become aware of the entire situation I was in.

"Ri! Get yourself together! We need you!" I heard the Pikachu call out from behind me.

My eyes widened. 'Right! Grovyle is here!'

When I quickly turned around to face my friends and Grovyle, a wave of dizziness shot through my head.

Falling down again, I brought my left paw to my head.

'God dammit...'

"Ri!" Ozu yelled with a desperate voice.

The symbol on my right hand was still glowing... I ignored it and pulled out another Oran berry from my pouch.

'Okay... I need to find a way to solve this without getting anyone hurt.'

I gulped down the berry and felt some of my strength come back to me. The pain all over my body faded too. Not entirely though.

The dizzy feeling stayed as I rose my head to look on what was going on.

My friends were nearly next to me and Grovyle was slowly getting closer to us.

"Ugh... Sorry. I'm back." I said, walking next to my friends.

They seemed to be a bit startled by my voice. When they turned around to look at me, they were shocked at first. But after a while their expressions turned normal again.

"I don't know what just happened to you but we have to stop that Grovyle now." Riley responded in a serious voice.

I looked into Grovyle's eyes. He looked a little shocked too. I couldn't blame him.

The person he thought as his partner was covered in blood.

'Why does he have to see this?... Will he think bad of me now?'

I shook my head and focused on what I had to do right now.

"I'm just going to take the Time Gear." Grovyle spoke up. "Nobody has to get hurt if you don't try to stop me."

"You think we are just going to let you steal it?!" the Pikachu next to me responded, getting herself ready to fight. "Not in a million years!"

I grit my teeth. 'Dammit, Riley.'

Looking back at Grovyle, I got into my normal battle-stance.

I gave him a wink and dashed towards him.

"Ri?! Wait!" Ozu tried to stop me but I was already in front of my "opponent".

Grovyle's eyes told me that he understood what I was trying to do.

I jumped up in front of him, pulling my right fist back. While doing so, I let my belly wide open on purpose.

The grass-type immediately noticed the hole in my defence and pushed his left foot forward.

When he touched my stomach, he put some force against my body and threw me back towards my friends again.

"Ri!" they yelled.

I was thrown right into Riley and she got pushed back with me.

The Pikachu struggled to push my body off of her as I was laying on top of her, acting like I was unconscious.

I opened one eye and looked at Grovyle again. He was right in front of Ozu, who was shivering from fear.

"Ngh! Ri, get off me!" the electric-type underneath me screamed, pushing me up with her paws.

The Chimchar fell back on his backside, looking up at Grovyle with a shocked expression. The grass-type simply walked past him and closer to the lake.

Riley had managed to free herself from my weight and rolled me on my stomach.

Grovyle was almost at the edge of the water when a Pikachu rushed between him and his goal.

The dizzy feeling had gotten worse. My vision was getting blurrier and blurrier while I watched the scene.

"Come on... Don't be stupid." Grovyle said, trying to prevent a conflict.

The electric-type responded with a growl and sent a Thunderbolt into Grovyle's direction.

He jumped into the air and dodge the ray with a backflip. After landing on his feet, he extended his leaves.

The Pikachu dropped down onto her front legs as her tail began to cover itself with metal.

She had a somewhat confused look on her face, when Grovyle got into his basic stance.

Riley dashed forward as white streams of energy radiated around her body. Quickattack.

When the Pikachu was in reach, she slashed at Grovyle with her steel-covered tail.

The grass-type simply brought up his left blade and blocked the attack with ease.

Riley spun her body around and dropped back on the ground. Right when the Pikachu landed, she shot out another bolt of lighting towards her opponent.

Grovyle quickly sidestepped, evading the attack.

Riley let out another growl, clearly frustrated that none of her attacks were able to hit him.

'Ugh... What's happening?' The light headed feeling was getting worse with every second. A headache joined the dizziness.

The Pikachu was attacking Grovyle with her Irontail again, trying to break through his defences somehow. After another failed try, she jumped back, creating some distance between her and the grass-type.

My vision was completely blurry by now. I could only make out a yellow and a green dot which were crashing into each other with immense speed.

The green one shot out two smaller dots which were flying towards the yellow one.

I heard a scream and saw how the green dot dashed behind the other one.

A sound of a blow could be heard, before the yellow dot wandered onto the ground.

'Ugh... God dammit...' I felt myself fainting again. The edge's of my vision were black and thinking properly was getting harder with every second that passed.

"Hey, Chimchar." I heard Grovyle's voice. "Get your friends and that Mesprit out of here... It will get a little rough once I grab that Time Gear."

I closed my eyes. My mind was overthrown with a feeling of weakness... emptiness... nothingness.

Not able to hold onto consciousness any longer, I passed out.

* * *

**BGM : Id (Darkness) - Fire Emblem Awakening**

Darkness...

I had been here before... Drifting through this black space without a body and feeling of time.

And just like last time, I felt another presence again.

_...at...fi...d...?_

_What? Who are you?_

_...hah...a...  
_

Whoever it was was moving away from me again.

_Wait! I don't understand you!_

The voice faded away with something that sounded like a chuckle.

_God dammit! Wait!_

My voice echoed through the darkness but... No response. The presence was gone.

Here I was again... Alone... Floating through the void...

I didn't know how much time had passed until the darkness slowly faded. I somewhat able to feel my body again... Somewhat meaning that my senses were covered with a foggy feeling.

Like I was dreaming or... I knew where I had felt this before... My memories...

_I was in a forest. It looked familiar somehow. There was something laying on the ground. I bent down to pick it up. Something about it was odd. The shape of the object was not identifiable. A black fog was surrounding it. The earth began to shake all of a sudden and a loud noise was coming from behind me. I turned around and found a wave of darkness, coming my direction. My body didn't move. The wave soon reached me and as soon as it touched me...  
_

_The object began to glow... The wave of darkness surrounded me but the light kept the fog away from my body somehow..._

_..._

_I felt something in the black cloud that was all around me._

_My vision focused on two red glowing eyes which were looking at from the fog. They looked like they belonged to a feral beast, looking at its prey. Whatever those eyes belonged to was coming closer... _

_The beast let out a mighty roar, sending a shockwave towards my direction. The object in my hand began to glow even brighter as the sound wave reached my ears..._

_It was no ordinary roar... It felt like I was torn apart and crushed at the same time when the wave rushed through my body._

The vision ended with an unbearable feeling of pain as everything went black again.

**Stop music**

* * *

My head hurt like it was about to explode when I slowly became aware of myself again.

I was laying in a bed and was able to feel a blanket on top of my belly. My head was rested on a pillow.

I opened my eyes and was greeted with a blinding light.

When I tried to cover my eyes with my right paw, I felt a stinging on my upper arm.

"Ugh... What the hell?!" I let my arm fall down again.

My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and I was able to see the ceiling of a room.

I used my left arm to lift myself up. A dizzy feeling joined the already horrible headache I was having.

'What happened? Ugh... My head hurts like hell...' I brought my left paw up to my head.

'We were at that underground lake... And then that Mesprit showed up...'

I rose my head and looked to my left. I was at the infirmary of the guild.

'The guild? How did I get back here?'

Just then the door in front of my bed opened and Chimecho floated into the room.

She noticed that I was awake and greeted me with a smile as she closed the door with her psychic powers.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, approaching my bed.

"A little headache... And my shoulder hurts a bit..." I answered, putting my left paw on my upper arm. A bandage was wrapped around it.

"Well, you should have an Oran berry... It will take away the pain and heal that wound on your shoulder." the psychic-type said, lifting up a berry from a basket that was standing on a table at the other side of te room.

She let it float to me and I grabbed it. "Thank you." I quickly ate it and immediately felt how the pain faded away.

"You should be happy that you only got a cut on your shoulder..." she continued, floating to the right side of my bed.

Chimecho approached the bed that was next to mine. A Pokemon was laying inside of it.

"Um... Ri has lost almost all of her aura... I don't know when she's going to wake up again." the psychic-type said in a concerned voice, looking at the sleeping Riolu.

'Ri...'

I remembered everything that had happened.

How she got slammed into the ground by that Mesprit.

How me and Ozu tried to fight the legendary and got easily beaten too.

How Ri suddenly lunged at the psychic-type and just beat her into a pulp.

...

And those eyes... Those ice-cold blue eyes.

A shiver ran down my spine when I remembered the look the Riolu had on her face...

"Ozu already told us what happened... It was him, who got all of you out of there." Chimecho explained, drawing my attention to her.

"And the Time Gear?" I questioned with a worried look.

Her head sank towards the ground. "Um... The thief managed to steal it. Time around Quicksand Desert has stopped."

"Ugh!" I baled my right paw into a fist.

I wasn't able to stop the Grovyle...

My gaze fell on my shoulder again. That last attack before he knocked me out caused the cut. That he was able to detach the leaves on his arms and use them as projectiles caught me by surprise.

'But the way he fought before that...'

I wasn't quite sure if I had seen the style before.

My view turned to the sleeping Pokemon to my right again.

'His movements... They were exactly like hers... Could she...?'

I shook my head and pushed the thought out of my head.

"How long was I out?" I asked, looking at the window that was behind me. It looked like it was noon.

"Well, you have been asleep since Ozu brought you back yesterday evening." the psychic-type explained.

"Where is Ozu? Is he okay?!" I asked, pulling the blanket off of my body and stepping out of my bed.

"He's fine! Ozu didn't have a single scratch when you came back... He said that he needed some time alone and left the guild." Chimecho answered.

"Oh..." I walked next to Ri's bed.

The Riolu had a peaceful expression her face. Her body was covered with a blanket and some bandages were wrapped around her arms, which were laying on top of it.

The fur on her body was clean again. I assumed that Chimecho had fixed us up. My own fur looked clean too... No dust or signs of a fight could be found on my body. Expect the bandage on my arm of course.

"Um... And before you ask... Mesprit is fine too. Magnezone brought her to Uxie... Both of them should recover soon." she said, noticing my worried expression when I looked at Ri.

"Well... What happens now? What if Grovyle steals all of the Time Gears?" I asked.

"Dusknoir wants to hold a short briefing after everyone is back from their patrols. He's discussing some things with Chatot and the guildmaster right now... You could ask him right now, if you want to." she answered.

"Okay... Thanks." I folded my arm, looking at the Riolu again.

'She knows something about that Grovyle... How she looked at the wanted-poster... Her shocked expression when she saw him at the lake... What is she hiding from us?'

I shook my head again and turned to the door. 'I need to talk with Ozu about this...'

"Thank you, Chimecho. I'm going to look for Ozu." I said, walking up to the door. "Can you let me know when Ri wakes up again?"

"Of course!" she answered as I opened the door.

I left the infirmary and headed to the ladder, leading to the upper floor.

After leaving the guild, I walked to the crossroad before Treasure Town. 'Hmm... Where should I look first?'

I decided to look for him in the town and took the path that lead to the right.

Keeping and eye open for my partner, I passed by Dusknoir's Bank and stepped on the main square. I overheard a few Pokemon, talking about the Time Gear from Quicksand Desert. The news had spread pretty fast.

After crossing the bridge that lead to the other part of Treasure Town, I reached Kecleon's Market.

'Maybe they have seen him...'

I approached the counter and greeted the two Kecleons which were standing behind it.

"Hi, there! How can we help you?" the green one asked with a smile.

"Hi... Have you seen Ozu?" I asked.

They seemed a little disappointed that I wasn't here for shopping.

"No, we haven't..." he answered.

"Oh... Well, I guess I have to keep looking. Bye!" I waved at them and turned towards the bridge.

"Goodbye!" they called after me.

"Hmm..." I brought my left paw to my chin as I took the first step onto the wooden bridge.

'If he hasn't been in Treasure Town, he can only be at the beach... I should have gone there immediately. It's his favourite place after all.'

I was just about to reach the crossroad when two familiar figures headed my way.

A bit of sweat was forming on my forehead, when I recognized them.

A Manectric and a Darumaka. The same ones from Amp Plains.

Our eyes met and...

"Isn't that that Riolu's friend?" the fire-type asked, pointing at me with its finger.

"Hmph... What are you doing here?" the Manetric growled.

"Oh... Ehm... Just looking for my friend." I answered, feeling a little startled by his hostile attitude.

"Looking for the Riolu to beat us up again?" he asked.

"No, another friend... And about that thing at Amp Plains... I'm sorry." I replied in a sad voice.

"You'd better be. My whole pack was badly hurt. That's the second time my family had problems with that Riolu." At first I was a little sceptical about him. Ri said that he was supposed to be some perverted jerk... But he just seemed to be angry that his family got hurt.

"Second time?" I didn't remember meeting any Electrike with Ri, before the incident at the plains.

"Yeah, my uncle and cousin had some trouble with her too. She and her friend trespassed their territory and beat them up when my uncle confronted them." the electric-type explained.

I remembered that she told us about a friend before.

_"I was travelling with a friend and we were exploring a Mystery Dungeon. Inside we got separated and I went on without him."_

'Right... That was the first time she mentioned him.'

_..._

_"Uhm... No, its just that... I think me and my friend used to do research on humans. I think that's the reason we went into that cave in the first place."_

'Is that really true? Ugh... She probably just said that because she didn't trust us enough to tell us that she is a human too... Well, that's somewhat understandable but... If they didn't do research on humans... What did they do?'

_..._

_"Who is it? Your friend? What is he like?"_

_"Well, he's really strong. He's a great explorer and... Uhm... I'm not even sure if im physically attracted to him. But there was a moment when I might have considered it... You see, he's not my species and... Ugh, I shouldn't have started this..."_

'Her awkward attitude towards that topic makes much more sense, now that I know she is a human...'

_..._

I also remembered the vision I had about Ri and her friend, when I confronted her after the Expedition.

How the hand of her friend gave her that blanket and she started to blush... But something about that hand bothered me, now that I thought about it again.

A uncomfortable thought entered my mind, before I asked my next question.

"Her friend?"

"Yes, that Riolu was with a Grovyle when they beat up my uncle's pack." he answered.

My eyes widened. "Did you just say Grovyle?"

"Yes... I met her here in Treasure Town before and when I asked about him, she went all crazy on me." he explained. "And the second time, when we met at Amp Plains, she straight up knocked me out before I could talk about him."

I immediately dashed past them, heading towards the beach.

"Hey! Where are you going!?" they yelled after me but I was already on the road that lead to the beach.

'No! It can't be! Her friend couldn't be the thief! God dammit!'

I was almost able to see the beach.

'I need to talk with Ozu about this!'

Scanning the area for my partner, I finally walked onto the beach.

There he was, sitting on our usual spot.

"Ozu!" I shouted, running up to him.

I was panting a little and had to recover from the short sprint as the Chimchar sat up.

"Riley! You're okay!" he greeted with a smile.

"Ozu! I need to talk with you... It's about Ri." I said, still trying to catch my breath.

His expression turned sad all of a sudden. "Ri? Do you mean how she beat up Mesprit?"

"No..." I answered. "I... Just heard that... Ugh... Do you remember the friend she talked about?"

He seemed a bit shocked when I asked that question. "W-What about him?"

I hesitated a bit before I continued. "That friend is supposed to be a Grovyle."

The fire-type broke eye contact with me and let out a deep sigh. I got confused by his reaction.

"I figured that she had something to do with the Time Gears... Every since I have seen that symbol on her paw... I even thought that she could have something to do with the disappearance of the gears..." he said in a sad voice.

"But... That would mean that she lied to us, ever since we met her!" I yelled angrily.

Ozu was a little startled by my yelling but he already knew that such things made my blood boil.

"I know... That's why I didn't tell you... But we can't be sure that her friend and the thief are the same person! Maybe it's just a coincidence that they have the same species." he replied.

"Yes... But a lot of things would make sense that way..." I said.

"Has she woken up yet? We should talk with her about it. Maybe she will finally tell us everything, now that we know that her friend is a Grovyle." the fire-type suggested.

"Okay, let's go back to the guild..." I turned around to head back to the crossroad.

My partner followed me and we quickly made our way to the entrance of the guild.

When we climbed down to the second floor, I stopped before Ozu was about to open the door to the infirmary.

A certain thought had entered my mind.

'Wait... Ri was acting very suspicious whenever Dusknoir was around. She said that I should be careful about him... But... Why? If she really is the friend of that thief... Maybe she acted so strange because she knew that Dusknoir knows something about Grovyle...'

The Chimchar was giving me a confused look. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, ehm... There's something I have to check on... I'll be right back." I said, turning towards the guildmaster's office.

Ozu entered the infirmary, while I knocked onto the door of the office.

* * *

After a moment, I heard Chatot's voice. "Come in!"

I opened the door and stepped into the room. Wigglytuff, Chatot and Dusknoir were studying a map, which was laying on Wigglytuff's desk.

"Riley, I see you have recovered!" the flying-type said with a relieved look. "What can we do for you?"

I looked into Dusknoirs eye. "Dusknoir? Can I talk with you for a moment?"

The ghost-type seemed to be a little surprised. "Well, of course!"

"Alone..." I added, giving the guildmaster and his assistant a serious look.

They were a little confused by my seriousness. Both of them nodded and left the room.

Chatot closed the door behind them and left me and Dusknoir to ourselves.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked. Something was strange though, it looked like he tensed up all of a sudden.

"It's about Ri... I... I just heard that she had been with a Grovyle before she got teleported to our guild." I explained in a sad voice.

The ghost-type looked calm again and clasped his arms. "I see... And now you think she has something to do with the thief."

"There is something else... She acted really strangely around you... And.. That made me think..." I continued. "Have you met the thief before?

He closed his eye. It seemed like he was debating about something... After a brief moment of silence, the ghost-type finally answered.

"Yes... Yes, I have."

Dusknoir opened his eye again and gave me a look I didn't quite understand.

"Y-you did?! When? How?" I responded with a surprised voice.

"What I'm about to tell you, might sound crazy but it is the truth." the ghost-type said in a serious voice.

...

"The timegear-thief Grovyle... Is from the future."

"What?!" I was shocked. 'Is he crazy?!'

"Listen... I'm going to tell you the whole story now... Because, you... Play a key role in it."

'I'm supposed to play a role in this story? What...? How am I supposed to have something to do with the time-gear thief? I haven't even met him before... Wait... Maybe... Maybe I did and just can't remember!... But if Dusknoir knows something about me, that would mean that...'

"Wait! So my name did tell you something!" I yelled, being a little angry that he lied to me.

"Calm down... I'm sorry for not telling you but I had to be sure that you really lost your memory. Also... I couldn't tell you in front of that Riolu." he explained. "Okay... As I said before... Grovyle comes from the future... And... So do I."

I gasped. "What?!"

"I came after him to stop his plan. Grovyle wants to destroy the world by causing the planet's paralysis. Now the next thing is going to become interesting for you... You see... Grovyle wasn't alone when he traveled back in time. He had an accomplice."

"A-and that accomplice is Ri?" I stuttered.

"No..." he answered.

...

"It is you. You are the second time-gear thief."

I took one step away from him. "W-what?" My mind wasn't really able to process his statement.

"I'm supposed to be his accomplice?! But... I... How am I supposed to be one of the people that tried to destroy the world?!" I had to grab the desk that was next to me. My legs weren't able to support my weight anymore.

"Grovlye's partner was a human girl called Riley... When Ri told me that your name is Riley and that you are a human, I didn't know how to react at first... Arresting you without any kind of proof wasn't possible but I always tried to keep a close eye on you." he continued.

'I'm a criminal... I... What made me do something like this? Is... The things that Mesprit said... It was not just Ri she was talking about... I wanted to steal the Time Gear too!'

I let go of the desk and took another step away from him. "S-so... Do you want to arrest me now?"

"I originally planned to do so..." Dusknoir cleared his throat. "But... I have an offer for you, which we will discuss later... First, I want to talk about the Riolu."

I responded with a worried look.

"I fear that Ri had contact with the time-gear thief Grovyle... I first suspected her when she followed me through Treasure Town a few days ago. When she asked me for an autograph, she gave me a piece of paper with the word 'Hello' in human language written on it. At that moment, I knew that she either had contact with a human or was a human herself." Dusknoir explained. "And later, at Amp Plains... Her fighting-style was almost identical to Grovyle's."

"But why would she help him? I don't understand it!" I responded with a confused look.

"Now here is my theory on how Ri fits into the whole thing... I assume that she really is a human with amnesia... Grovyle must've met her and mistaken her for you... The real Riley." he continued.

"T-that... makes sense. The first time we talked with her, she introduced herself as Riley." I commented.

"Ah, so I can assume that my theory is correct." the ghost-type replied. "I think that Ri already knows that she isn't you. I bet she acted very strangely when she found out."

'The day she told me that her name wasn't Riley... Back at the beach, when she was alone with Ozu... That must've been when she found out. That means that she knew all along who I really was."

"B-but... Why didn't she tell me?!" I felt completely betrayed by her now.

'She could have told me! Told me who I really was! I mean sure, I would've been a criminal but at least I would have known something about my past!'

"I don't know... But what's important now, is that she is still trying to help Grovyle, even though she knows that she isn't his real partner. Her motives are unclear to me but what I do know, is that she has to be stopped. That's why I came up with a plan." Dusknoir's voice got even more serious.

"A plan?" I asked in a confused tone.

"It also includes the offer I was talking about... Here's what we are going to do..."

* * *

**End of Chapter - 17**

* * *

So... The way I switched from Ri's POV to Riley's...

What I was trying to do here was that the reader first think that he's still with Ri and slowly gets that little hint with the shoulder thingy and so on...

And then you get that "Aha"-moment where you realize that you see the world through the Pikachu's eyes now.

Now here's the question: Did you like that little realization moment or did it just confuse you?

I really need a different opinion on this, because obviously, I know when the POV changes...

So let me know what you think about it. You know...PM/Review.


	18. Plans and Theories

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 18 - Plans and Theories  
**

* * *

"Aaah!" I screamed as my body jumped and I shot upright into a sitting position.

My heart felt like it was about to burst any second and my breath was trembling.

'What was that? A nightmare?'

Bringing my right paw to my head, I tried to get aware of my surroundings.

I was in a bed... Looking around the room revealed that I was at the infirmary of Wigglytuff's guild.

There weren't any other Pokemon in the room and an orange light was shining through the window that was to my left.

'It's evening? How long was I out?... When did...'

My face went pale when I remembered what had happened.

I looked at my paws. My fur was clean again and a couple of bandages were wrapped around my arms.

'I... Why would I do something like that?... That... That voice...'

I tried to remember what happened before I beat up the Mesprit.

'It asked me if I was angry and if I wanted to beat her... Did... Did that voice make me do that?'

I pulled the blanket that was on top of me off my body.

'My friends... What will they think of me? And what about Grovyle?'

My eyes widened as I just brought my feet down to the floor.

'Grovyle! The Time Gear!'

I was just about to hop off the bed, when I heard the door to the main room opened.

A Chimchar entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Hello, Ri..." he said, turning around. "How are you?"

A faint smile was on his face.

"Uhm... I'm okay..." I replied.

I hesitated for a moment before I continued. "Is Mesprit okay?"

"Don't worry, she's fine... They brought her to Uxie." the fire-type answered.

A sigh of relief escaped my mouth. 'Thank, god.'

His expression turned worried. "I heard a scream from the infirmary... Did something happen?"

"I just had a bad dream... That's all..." I answered.

...

"About the thing that happened at the lake... I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry for protecting us..." he said with a forced smile.

His eyes told me what he was really thinking... I had seen how he looked at me at the lake... My friend was scared of me. Breaking eye-contact with him, I let my head sink towards the ground.

"I... I wasn't myself back then... There was this strange voice and when I saw how she attacked you and Riley... I... I just... Lost it."

The feeling of guilt was returning. "I though I had killed her..."

Ozu walked up to me and grabbed my shoulder. I rose my head again and looked into his eyes.

"You are not a bad person... You protected your friends and helped that Mesprit... And now... Even though you know that she is okay, you still feel guilty."

He managed to cheer me up with those words... A faint smile appeared on my face, to which the Chimchar, strangely didn't respond to.

"I'm the one that should be sorry..." Ozu let go of my shoulder and let his head sink towards the ground. "I... I just froze when Grovyle showed up all of a sudden. I knew that you two were besides me but... When he threw you into Riley and the only thing between him and the lake was me..."

The Chimchar stopped there. After a short moment, he looked into my eyes again.

"Do you think I'm a coward?"

...

"Do you want to overcome your fears?" I asked with a serious voice.

He turned confused by my question. "Of course, I do..."

"Well, there you have your answer." I replied.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"A coward doesn't even try to confront his fears. All you need is the strength to face them." I explained. "What are you scared of anyway?"

The Chimchar took some time before he answered. "It's... I'm scared to fight alone... I just completely lose it when there is no one to back me up. I don't want to get hurt... There is this feeling that keeps me from fighting when no one is there with me... Whenever I have to fight somebody, I have two opponents... My actual enemy... And my own fear..."

"I don't like fighting... Never did..." he added in a sad voice.

A jolt of pain shot through my head when he said those words. Through the whole sentence, it looked like he was replaced by the familiar black flickering figure.

"Ngh..." Gritting my teeth, I answered him. "... Well, then it's obvious what you need to do."

It looked like he was a bit worried by my expression of pain but more so was he confused by what I just said.

"You need to get strong enough to beat them both, your fear and your opponent... But... Taking hits and pain aren't easy to evade in a battle... But you have the same solution there. Get strong enough, so no one will ever be able to hurt you or your friends." I explained as the headache slowly faded.

"Do you really think I could get that strong?" he questioned.

I responded with a smile. "Of course!"

The Chimchar closed his eyes. "Thank you."

...

"So... What happened to the Time Gear?" I asked, putting on a serious expression again.

His look changed instantly when I asked that question. Something about it was strange...

"It... It's g-gone... Grovyle managed to steal it." the fire-type explained.

I closed my eyes and exhaled through my nose.

'Okay... So, our next goal is Crystal Cave... I need to find a way to talk with him.'

Opening my eyes again, revealed that Ozu was still giving me a strange stare.

"Something on my face?" I asked bringing my paw up to my chin.

My friend seemed to be a little surprised and jumped when I spoke up again.

"Huh? N-no, it's nothing." the Chimchar stuttered, rubbing the back of his head.

After he put his hand down again, his look turned serious.

"Hey, uhm... Ri. I don't know how I get to that topic right now but... Can I ask you something about the time before we found you in front of the guild?" Ozu asked.

"Uhm... I already told you that I will tell you someday... The time just isn't really right yet." I answered as a bit of sweat formed on my forehead.

"Yes, I know that but... Why? Did you do something bad in your past?" he continued.

"No... It's nothing bad... Just something that has to wait for the right moment to be told." I responded.

"Come on, you can tell me. I can keep it between the two of us..." The Chimchar was persistent.

...

"Sorry..."

How he responded seemed a little strange to me. It looked like he was gritting his teeth, while he baled his right hand into a fist.

I heard him mutter something under his breath...

He stayed that way for a while, before he spoke up again. "Okay... I understand..."

His expression turned normal again. "Anyway, do you want to see the others? Dinner is almost ready."

"Okay, let's go." I answered, following him out of the infirmary.

* * *

**Earlier...**

"Phase One... Last Request..." Dusknoir began. "We wait until she wakes up and either you or Ozu tries to get something out of her, without mentioning that you already know everything... Maybe she will open up and we can convince her that what she had been doing was wrong."

"Ugh... It's probably better if Ozu asks her." I replied. "I made a promise that I wouldn't ask her about her past until I manage to beat her in a battle. I could try to win the match when she wakes up but... I'm not sure if I can defeat her."

"She lied to you ever since you met and you still hold onto a promise you made to her?" the ghost-type asked with a somewhat surprised voice.

I let out a growl before I answered. "It's... I still can't believe she could really do something like that."

"Anyway, should Ozu fail to get her to talk,..."

* * *

Closing the door behind us, I turned my head towards the middle of the main room.

Bidoof and Sunflora were having a chat with Croagunk, who was fiddling around with his cauldron.

My friend and I approached them.

"Oh, boy! Look! It's Ri!" Bidoof exclaimed when they noticed me.

"How are you?" Sunflora asked with a warm smile.

"I'm fine! Thanks for asking." I answered, returning it.

The poison-type behind them was just giving me a stare, blowing up his cheeks.

When he pulled them back in again, it almost looked like he was giving me a grin...

The three of them looked at Ozu all of a sudden who, strangely, had a sad look on his face.

"Something wrong?" I asked him with a confused look.

The fire-type jumped a bit and shook his head. "N-no, I'm fine. Should we go to the dinning hall?"

"Great idea! Dinner should be ready any second now." Sunflora replied.

The five of us walked into the hallway that lead to the dinning room.

Chimecho was already in the room and just finished preparing everyone's food.

"Hello, Ri!" she greeted as we entered. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. Thank you for fixing me up." I answered.

"There wasn't actually that much fixing to do... Can you come to the infirmary after dinner? We'll talk about it then." the psychic-type replied.

"Okay..." I followed Ozu to our usual seats.

Chimcheo announced dinner with a loud ringing and slowly, the rest of the guild members came into the room.

The last ones to arrive were Wigglytuff, Chatot, Dusknoir and surprisingly Riley right behind the ghost-type.

The two walked over to us and Dusknoir sat down next to me... 'Ugh...'

"How are you, Ri? I heard you had some trouble with the lake's guardian." Dusknoir asked.

"Uhm... I'm fine." I looked over to Ozu and Riley who were mumbling something to each other. They noticed my stare and looked at me.

I brought my head to the Chimchar's ear.

"Did you tell everyone?" I whispered.

The fire-type next to me nodded.

My view wandered onto the plate in front of me.

'Ugh... The whole guild probably thinks that I'm a monster now.'

"Everyone! Listen up!" Chatot shouted, getting everyone's attention. The parrot-like Pokemon looked at Riley before he continued. "Thanks to Dusknoir, we were able to locate the final Time Gear! It's at Crystal Cave! Bidoof, Sunflora and Loudred already explored the cave and only managed to find a dead-end. However, thanks to the information Dusknoir has given us, we now know that there lies a secret in that cave that let's us explore further."

'What? He told them? Dusknoir didn't tell us about Quicksand Desert... Why would he do it now?'

"The fifth gear lies somewhere hidden in that cave, so we know that the thief is going to go there for sure!" the flying-type continued. "Dusknoir, could you fill everyone in on our plan?"

'A plan?'

"Of course..." the ghost-type responded. "We are going to set up a trap for the thief at Crystal Cave!"

'I knew it! He was planning something after all... Heh... Whatever it is, it won't work. I'm going to warn Grovyle.'

"Between the first part of the cave and the second part, lies a cave-system that isn't affected by the dungeons. The whole guild is coming along to set up an ambush. I will explain the details tomorrow morning." he continued.

'Dammit! How am I supposed to talk to Grovyle in private, when the whole guild is coming along? Ugh... Maybe I can sneak off in that cave-system. I'm going to plan that tomorrow... When I know the details... Yeah.'

"You heard him! Eat well and get some good rest!" Chatot spoke up again. "Enjoy your meals!"

An odd silence was hanging in the room while we were eating. Usually the other guild members would talk about their daily events or exploring in general... However, between a short mumble here and there, only the sounds of us eating could be heard.

Everyone finished their meals and left the dinning hall.

My friends and I were getting up from out chairs, when I noticed a bandage on the Pikachu's arm.

"Riley, what happened to your arm?" I asked, pointing at the piece of cloth around her right arm.

"Oh... Uhm... Just a cut from my fight with Grovyle. It's nothing to worry about." the electric-type explained, looking at the bandage.

'Dammit, Grovyle... I told him not to hurt them.'

Chimecho was cleaning up everyone's plates when we were about to leave the room.

"Should I wait in the infirmary?" I asked.

"Yes, I'll this won't take long." she replied.

My friends and I walked into the main room and I approached the door thar lead to the infirmary.

I had just put my hand onto the doorknob when I noticed that my friends were right behind me.

"Oh, you want to come too." I said with a surprised look.

"Of course! You're our friend." Riley replied with a smile.

I returned it and we entered the room. Sitting down on the chair that Chimecho usually let me sit, I looked at my friends who were just standing next to me, looking at me with a smile.

After a while, Chimecho entered the room and closed the door behind her with her psychic-powers.

"Um... When Ozu brought you back here, you were covered in bruises and small cuts." the psychic-type began to explain. "That wasn't the worrying thing though. You had almost lost all of your aura again!"

"My aura? Again?" I remembered how she told how I had almost died the last time I lost that much of it.

"You should be more careful with your aura-attacks." she replied in a serious voice.

"But I only used Bone Rush once and Extremespeed... Uhm... Twice, I think." I tried to review my fight with Mesprit.

"What about the thing with your eyes? You know... Where you went all berserk." the Pikachu next to me asked.

"Eyes? What do you mean?" I questioned, not knowing what she had meant.

My friends looked at each other with confused looks.

"Normally, your eyes are red. But when you beat up Mesprit you had blue eyes all of a sudden. And later, when you tried to fight Grovyle with us, they had turned back to normal again." Riley explained, facing me again.

I responded with a confused look myself.

"Blue eyes?... Uhm... Chimecho? Do you have any idea what could've caused them?" I asked.

"Um... Sorry. I never heard anything that could change eye-colors." the psychic-type replied.

"But... If that didn't make you lose your aura... What did?" Riley asked.

I looked at my right paw. "I think I know what it was. The symbol."

"Symbol?" Chimecho had no idea what I was talking about.

"Well, it's on the back my right paw. It looks exactly like a gear and only shows up when I'm near a Time Gear. And... I think it somehow affects my aura. Whenever I was near one, I felt really dizzy and light headed." I explained.

"Dizzy and light headed? Um... That would be symptoms that occur when a living being's aura is drained from it's body." the psychic-type replied.

"So the Time Gears somehow drain away my aura?" I concluded.

"Um... That would be an explanation." she responded. "You should try to stay away from it, should we find a gear tomorrow.

"Well, I think you don't need those bandages anymore." A weird sensation ran over my body as the bandages on it slowly unwrapped themselves.

Chimecho let the pieces of cloth float into a basket which was placed ok a table, next to the door.

"Thank you." I looked down on my body. Any wounds I had from when Mesprit slammed me into the ground were completely gone.

"You are completely fit for tomorrow." Something strange happened when she said that. It looked like she was giving Riley a quick glance at the end.

"Okay, then... See you tomorrow at the briefing." Chimecho used her psychic-powers to open the door to the main room.

"Okay! See you tomorrow!" me and my friends replied in union, leaving the infirmary.

We made our way back to our room.

My pouches, goggles and red scarf were laying on our table.

I walked up to them, while Ozu closed the door behind us.

"What happened to our cloaks?" I asked, scanning the room for our desert cloaks.

"Sorry. I had to get you two and Mesprit out of there. There was no time to grab them." the Chimchar said with a sad voice.

"You saved us, and that's what matters." I replied, giving him a smile.

The three of us sat down on our beds.

"Do you think we can catch the thief tomorrow?" Riley asked. The Pikachu was looking at me, meaning that the question was meant especially for me.

"Uhm... I hope so." I said with a somewhat nervous voice.

"Hey, Ri. Do you think you could beat that Grovyle? I mean, without any Time Gears that would drain away your aura?" she added.

That question made me think... I folded my arms.

'Could I? Grovyle sure is strong... And fast. If I would fight him in a normal match... Speed wise? I think we would be even. Strength wise? Both of us know the Gavylian-style... But that requires to be faster than your opponent. I would probably use my bones to block his Leaf Blade and counter with Force Palm or normal hand-to-hand combat. Aerial Ace would be super-effective against him, but I'm not really sure how to use it offensively. Maybe I could...'

I was so caught up in theorizing that I didn't even notice that I hadn't answered her yet.

"Uhm... I don't know... I have no idea what he is capable of." I responded, unfolding my arms again.

"Hmm... Well, let's hope that Dusknoir's plan works. Who knows what's going to happen if Grovyle steals all of the Time Gears." Riley said.

"Yeah... Who knows..." I muttered to myself.

I let myself fall back onto my back, putting my arms behind my head.

'He would bring them to Temporal Tower... But before that we would still have to...'

My eyes widened. I remembered what Grovyle told me about the Time Gear from Treeshroud Forest.

_"Yes... you were laying unconscious near the place where the Time Gear should have been. But you must have gotten there after the gear was taken. If you had been inside the shockwave you would be stuck there now. So I assume that somebody else than us must have taken that Time Gear."_

_"Not only do we have to collect all the Time Gears, we also need to worry about a thief that tries the same. I have a theory who it might be but it's just a theory."_

_"If the thief has the goal to collect more than one Time Gear, he will eventually try to find us. So if we get at least one gear before him, we have a plan to capture him."_

All the stress from the recent weeks made me completely forget about the second thief, Grovyle was talking about.

...

'But... Is there really a second thief? Nobody in Treasure Town has seen any other Pokemon that could be that thief. And I don't think that Grovyle has found the other thief either... He was talking about a theory... Maybe he thought that Dusknoir took it to prevent him from collecting all of the Time Gears... But if Dusknoir had the gear with him all the time... Wouldn't the symbol on my pa...'

Letting out a mental gasp, sat myself up again. 'Wait... Grovyle found me at Treeshroud Forest when time had already stopped there . That weird symbol on my paw only shows up when I'm near another Time Gear.'

"Ri? What's wrong?" Ozu asked, giving me a confused look.

I ignored him.

'The symbol looks exactly like a Time Gear... Could I... Could I somehow be the reason why the gear from Treeshroud Forest has disappeared? Maybe...'

"Ri?!" I felt someone touch my left shoulder.

"Huh? What?" I looked at the owner. Ozu was looking at me with a worried look.

"What's wrong?" he asked putting his hand away.

"Oh... It's nothing! Just thought about something that bugged me." I replied with a nervous voice.

"Bugged you? What is it?" he continued.

"Nothing important..." I let out an acted yawn. "Well, I think we should get some sleep! We gotta be fit, tomorrow!"

The fire-type seemed to be a little disappointed but nodded and got back on his bed.

It was already nighttime. Only a faint ray of moonlight was shining through our window.

I got myself into a comfortable sleeping position. "Good night!"

"Good night." my friends returned.

...

'Maybe... That symbol... It has to be connected to the Time Gear from Treeshroud Forest. Ugh... But how can I be sure of that? I need to talk with Grovyle... Tell him about Duksnoir's plan... The symbol... And Riley...'

I rose my head a bit and looked at the Pikachu. Her eyes were still open and she was looking at me too.

Not wanting to say anything, I just put my head back down.

'Next time, I see them with Grovyle... I'm going to tell them. I'm sick of lying... And if Dusknoir get's in our way... Heck, I'll just beat him.'

Letting out a mental sigh, I closed my eyes.

I wasn't really feeling tired, but somehow I wanted to put my mind at rest and forget all the trouble for a short while.

Struggling to fall asleep, I could only try to keep my mind free from worrying thoughts.

Coming up with battle strategies was something that would distract me, so I thought about Dusknoir again.

'I wonder if Dusknoir is strong... If Grovyle fought him before, he sure is. He's a ghost-type... Meaning that physical attacks won't have that much effect. Ranged Bone Rush attacks could work... Would my aura affect him? Hmm... That ranged Force Palm would be another option to attack him. I could try to combine...'

After what felt like an hour of trying to kill time with theorizing, I finally fell asleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 18**


	19. Cornered

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 19 - Cornered  
**

* * *

"UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!"

Loudred's wake up call wasn't pleasant today.

My ears were still ringing, when I sat myself up and brought my right paw to my head.

It took me while before my brain was able to work properly again. Getting up, I looked at my friends.

Riley was already tying her scarf around her neck, while Ozu put his goggles on his head.

I walked over to our table on which my equipment was placed on. After I attached my pouches to my leg and hip, I tied my red scarf around my right upper arm.

When I grabbed my own desert goggles, I looked at them for a while, before I tied them around my neck again.

"You ready?" the Chimchar asked, putting his little backpack on his back.

"Yeah" I responded, following my friends out of our room.

The other guild members were already in the main room and ready for the morning briefing. We walked up to our usual spots and waited for Chatot and the guildmaster to start it.

When Dusknoir floated down from the first floor, Chatot took one step forward and spoke up. "Good morning, everyone! You know what we are going to to today!"

Dusknoir floated next to Chatot and Wigglytuff.

"We are going to catch the timegear-thief Grovyle!" the flying-type continued. "Dusknoir is going to explain the details of our plan now, so listen up and pay attention."

"Thank you, Chatot." Dusknoir said, getting everyone's attention. "My plan is to set up an ambush. After the first part of the dungeon, lies a separate cave-system with many corridors and passageways! Most of those passages lead to the same exit, where we would have to solve the secret of Crystal Cave. That is the ideal spot to set up our trap."

The ghost-type opened the mouth on his belly and pulled out a big, enrolled piece of paper.

"What I have here is a map of this system." The ghost-type unrolled the paper and showed it to everyone.

It was just like he said. A map of the cave was drawn onto it. There was a big room on the bottom, which I assumed to be the exit from the first part of the dungeon. Many corridors went away from that room and ended at the same room at the top of the sheet. A couple of the hallways lead to separate rooms, which were most likely dead-ends.

"We are going split up and go through each corridor in preset teams. If the thief managed to get into Crystal Cave before us, we might be able to find him in one of them. Should he have already solved the secret, we will rush through the second part of the dungeon and corner him at the deepest part of the cave." the ghost-type continued.

'Okay... I need to come up with a plan. If we are going to travel in teams, that means that Ozu and Riley are going to explore with me. If we manage to find Grovyle in one of those tunnels... I'm going to tell them... And warn Grovyle about Dusknoirs trap... Should we don't find him and everyone is ready for the ambush, then I'll just need to find an excuse to go back into one of the tunnels... I'll head back to the entrance of the cave-system and wait for Grovyle there... But... If we find him before that... With the whole guild and Dusknoir... I can go on with Grovyle's backup plan... Should he get captured... I will finish the job.'

"We will travel to the entrance of the cave together and determine the teams there." he finished.

Chatot took over again. "Okay, you heard him! When everyone is ready, we will head out straight away."

A bit of mumbling could be heard from the other until everyone seemed to ready to go.

"It seems that we can head out. So... Let's get to it!" the flying-type ordered.

"HURRAY!" the whole guild cheered.

* * *

And so our journey to Crystal Cave began. It was completely different from the expedition, because, this time, the whole guild traveled together.

After we left Treasure Town a strange thought entered my mind. How we walked in a row... The chatting from the other guild members...

'Huh... This is almost like a school-trip.'

I remembered something about schools from the human world.

Walking next to Riley, I poked her on the shoulder and brought my head to her ear.

"Hey, Riley. Don't you think that this is very familiar to a school-trip." I whispered.

The Pikachu seemed to be a little confused at first but after a while, she whispered back. "Let's talk about it later. We have to catch that thief first."

"Oh, okay..." Her distant attitude was a little strange to me but I shrugged it off and began to admire the landscape again, just like I usually did when I was travelling.

The whole journey lasted for about six hours and it was probably short after noon when we arrived at the cave.

There was a clearing in front of the entrance with trees and bushes all around it.

"Okay, everyone! We are going to have a quick lunch and split up into the teams after that." Chatot announced.

All of us sat down onto the ground in a big circle. Chimecho had a bag full of apples with her, from which she served everyone with one fruit each.

While we were eating, I noticed something strange. My ears twitched, when I heard a rustling behind me.

When I turned around, I only caught a blue blur at the corner of my eye.

"Did you see that just now?" I asked into the circle.

"So you noticed too?" Dusknoir called over to me.

The other guild members were giving us confused looks.

"It was probably a Riolu or a Lucario from the nearby tribe. A scout I assume. A big group like us does give off a lot of aura after all." the ghost-type explained to me.

I remembered that Marowak told me about a tribe of Lucario near Crystal Cave.

Swallowing the last bits of my apple, I was thinking about visiting them but quickly remembered that I had much more important things to do.

The others finished their meals too and Chatot pulled out a piece of paper.

"Okay now! I'm going to announce the teams now!" he announced. "First team! Suflora, Bidoof, Corphish and Loudred. Second team! Diglett, Dugtrio, Croagunk and Chimecho! Third team! Riley, Ozu, Ri... and the guildmaster!?"

"Hurray! I'm going to explore with my apple friend!" the fairy-type cheered.

I sweatdropped and tried to implement him into my plan. 'Wigglytuff would probably believe me too... Ugh... I need to find Grovyle first though.'

"Err... Okay, then. Dusknoir and I will form the final team then." the parrot-like Pokemon continued. "Alright! Let's go."

We made our way into the cave and entered the first dungeon.

The floors and walls were covered with blue crystals, which were lighting up the rooms and hallways we were exploring.

Wigglytuff was leading our group and did a surprisingly good job. I almost looked like if he knew where the staircase to the next floor would be as we only had to clear one to two rooms on each floor.

And when we came across any wild Pokemon, he mostly just knocked them out with one kick to the face and let out a happy laugh doing so.

We were just about to leave the final floor when another Riolu entered the room with the staircase. It was very weird to see another Pokemon from my species. The others noticed it too and looked at the two of us for a while.

My friends were ready to leave, but I walked up to feral Pokemon and got into my normal battle stance.

"Come on, Ri! Let's go!" Riley called over to me.

"Hang on! I'm going to fight that Riolu really quick!" I yelled back.

The wild Riolu really did look like me. Except for my equipment and the slightly longer fur on my head. It's battle stance was completely different too.

The fight didn't last very long. When the fighting-type rushed at me, I simply pushed it's arms away and attacked it's exposed chest with a Force Palm.

The Pokemon faded into black smoke and I looked at the cloud with a somewhat disappointed look.

Letting out a sigh, I walked back to my friends and we left the dungeon.

We were at the big room that was drawn onto Dusknoir's map when we came out.

It was darker than in the dungeon. The crystals only grew out of the earth here and there and overall, their light seemed to be a little weaker. A lot of openings were in the room. There weren't any other Pokemon yet, so I assumed that we were the first group to arrive.

Opening my pouch, I pulled out the Luminous Orb, Grovyle has given me. Only holding it in my hand and thinking 'light' activated it.

The area my orb was luminating wasn't really big but at least I would see everything that was in front of my feet. I used the leather band on the orb to attach it onto my pouch.

Ozu pulled out two other Luminous Orbs and gave one to Riley and one to the guildmaster. After that, he created a little fire in his hand and used the flame as his own light source.

After a couple of minutes, the rest of the guild members came out from the exit of the dungeon and the teams walked up to the corridor, they would explore. A few of them also used orbs to light up the a small area around them.

Riley lead us to the one that was the furthest to the right.

When everyone was ready, Chatot held one last speech. "Okay! You know the plan! We are going to meet up at the other end of this cave-system! Should you find the thief on the way, don't hesitate to knock him out. Should you not be able to defeat him, the rest of us will capture him at the ambush!"

My friends and I were the last ones to head into out corridor. Wigglytuff was playing with a Perfect Apple which he pulled out from nowhere.

It took us a while to calm him down and get him to follow us to the opening.

"If I remember the map correctly, we have to go right two times and left at the last crossing." Ozu said as we reached the first crossing.

We followed his suggestion and took the path to the right.

Just before we reached the next crossing, Riley bumped into me.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized, grabbing my shoulder for a moment.

"No problem." I returned with a smile.

The four of us headed right at the crossing and made our way to final one before our destination.

All of a sudden, our Luminous Orbs began to dim down and flicker on and out.

"Ohoho! Spooky!" Wigglytuff chuckled.

"What's wrong with this thing?" I asked, detaching it from my pouch and and shaking it in my hand.

And then, they went out for good. Only Ozu's flame and a couple of crystal's were still lighting up the corridor.

"Great, what now?" Riley asked with an annoyed voice.

"Just stay close to me, I'll take the lead." the Chimchar next to me said, letting the fire in his hand grow a bit.

We followed the fire-type until Riley stopped us all of a sudden.

"Hey! Did you hear that?" she asked, taking a few steps ahead.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked. "I didn't hear anything."

Suddenly the Pikachu ran off without any warning. "I think it's the thief!"

"What?!" I yelled after her. "Wait!"

I quickly followed her.

"Ri! Don't run off without us!" Ozu called out but we were already out of their sight.

'Dammit! What is she doing?'

When we came to the crossing, she took the opening that lead to the right.

"Wait, god dammit!" I tried to catch up to the Pikachu but it was very hard to run in the dark without tripping.

I caught one last glimpse of the yellow mouse when she ran past a glowing crystal. Then she was gone.

"Riley! Where are you!?" I shouted as I ran into the darkness in front of me.

No response.

After a while, I saw a faint light at the end of the tunnel. The hallway was getting more lit up with every step I came closer to the light.

When I finally reached the exit, I found myself in a huge circular room which was covered with glowing crystals.

"Riley?!" I yelled, scanning the room for the Pikachu. The electric-type was nowhere to be seen.

I walked further into the room. "Riley?! Where are you?!"

...

Still no response.

'What the hell? This is a dead-end. Where did she go?'

I turned around to leave the room again.

Halfway there, I noticed something in the shadow of the opening.

Whatever it was, stepped out of the darkness and revealed a Pikachu.

* * *

**Earlier...**

"Anyway, should Ozu fail to get her to talk, we go to Phase Two... Lock down..." Dusknoir continued. "We are going to take her with us to Crystal Cave tomorrow."

"Crystal Cave? What are we doing there?" I asked.

"We're going to set up an ambush for Grovyle. The final Time Gear is located there." he answered.

The ghost-type then showed me a map and told every detail he knew about the cave.

"While I and my men handle the thief, you and the other guild members corner Ri in that dead-end."

The ghost-type then pointed at a room that was on the right side of the map.

"We are going to split everyone up in teams, so your job is to lead her there. The other guild members will act like they are exploring their own corridors. What they are really going to do is sneak after you and trap her there."

"But you must make absolutely sure that she cannot flee. Her explorer-badge could just teleport her out of there. Try to steal it before you lead her into the trap." he added.

"O-okay..." I tried to play the whole scenario in my head.

"After that, we come to Phase Three... Confrontation." Dusknoir explained.

"In Phase Three, you tell her that you know everything about her and Grovyle... Now there is something we have to talk about before we can continue. She might try to talk herself out with ridiculous excuses... Like trying to save the world for example..."

"Save the world? But that..." The ghost-type interrupted me.

"It is a lie." the ghost-type said with a strict voice. "Let me tell you how you and Grovyle managed to travel back in time in the first place. You tricked the legendary Pokemon Celebi into thinking that the both of you are trying to safe the world... When we confronted her, she told us that you said something about collecting the five Time Gears and bringing them to Temporal Tower. Do not believe anything, coming from that topic."

"What am I supposed to believe then?" The whole story was just confusing me by now.

"Well, it is true that there is a Temporal Tower in the future. It is also true that I'm a servant of Dialga, the master of time... Should she mention that..." he continued. "What you should believe is that my master has foreseen Grovyle's and your plan to destroy time. He ordered me to stop you two from causing the planet's paralysis."

"I... I still can't believe I could've wanted something like this..." My head sank towards the ground. "And... To think that Ri is trying to... Ugh..."

"I'm not sure if Ri is really trying to destroy the world... Maybe Grovyle managed to trick her with the same "Saving the world" story... In that case, you have to convince her that what she had been doing was wrong. You should question her trust into Grovyle. Maybe she is going to realize her mistakes and surrender without any resistance." Dusknoir finished.

"That doesn't excuse that she lied to us." I growled, baling my right paw into a fist.

"I know, I know... You can talk about you differences after we have captured Grovyle..." he said, trying to calm me down.

"However, should she be fully aware of what she is doing or still believe Grovyle's lie..."

* * *

Riley slowly came closer to me, giving me a familiar look. The same one she had given me the first time I woke up after the expedition... A look of hate and disgust.

"R-Riley? What's wrong?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable by her stare.

"Why don't you tell me? Did you think you could lie to us forever?" she asked with a voice that was full of disgust too.

My eyes shot open and all of my muscles froze in place. "W-what?"

"You heard me right! I know that you are helping the thief!" Riley continued.

It took me a while before my brain realized the whole situation.

When I was about to answer, I saw Ozu and the guildmaster come out from the opening.

Shortly after them, the rest of the guild members followed and walked next to the electric-type in front of me.

"I-I can explain!" I called over to them.

"Go on! Explain to me that you are trying to destroy the world!" she replied.

The other guild members began to form a circle around me.

"It's not like that! Trust me, Grovyle and I are trying to save it!" I explained.

"Oh, here we go... That stupid excuse you would tell us." the electric-type said with an annoyed voice.

The others had me completely surrounded now.

"E-excuse?! But it's the truth! You see Temporal Tower is..." Riley interrupted me before I could continue.

"Shut up!" she screamed. "Dusknoir told me everything."

...

"Really?!" I asked trying to get the upper hand in our argument. "Did he also tell you that Grovyle had a human partner called Riley?! You would be his accomplice!"

"I already know that too... I... If I stop you, Dusknoir is going to let me go. I can keep on living with Ozu and just forget that other person I used to be!"

"But Riley! You tried to save the...!" The electric-type interrupted me again.

"Stop with this crap already!" she shouted, her voice full of anger.

I grit my teeth.

"You would rather believe the person that tells you that you tried to destroy the world than the one that tells you that you tried to save it?!" I screamed, annoyed by her stubborn behavior.

The Pikachu broke eye-contact and grit her teeth. She closed her eyes for a moment and let out a growl before she continued. "I would rather believe the person that didn't lie to me, ever since we met!"

Those words silenced me. I didn't know how to respond this. After all...It was the truth.

...

"I trusted you... We trusted you!" she continued, pointing at the fire-type next to her.

"Ozu..." I said, looking at him. The Chimchar had a sad look on his face.

He didn't respond. It looked like as if he didn't even want to be here right now.

I looked at the other guild members.

Chatot looked like he was about to explode. "To think that we had a thief in our guild! This is unacceptable!"

Wigglytuff's expression didn't fit the other ones at all. He was still looking at me with the stupid grin he had on his face all the time.

The others looked disappointed too.

I heard a little mumbling between them. "How could you?... I thought you were our friend... To think we ate at the same table with a thief..."

I looked back to the Pikachu, who was still giving me her stare.

"What about you? Do you believe Grovyle? What tells you that he told you the truth?" she asked with a slightly less offensive tone.

"W-what?" My mind wasn't really able to process that question.

"What if Grovyle lied to you? What if you are not saving the world with you actions?" the electric-type repeated.

'Grovyle... Lie to me? That...' I never considered something like that.

My eyes widened. 'What... What if everything I have been doing so far was wrong?! What if I'm actually destroying the world right now? Would... Would Grovyle really do something like that?!'

An image of him rushed through my mind. A lot of feelings were coming from it, however, the onslaught of emotions stopped when I imagined his eyes in front of my face. His eyes... Going over all of our conversations again, I tried to rememeber them at every word he said... Those eyes, they couldn't belong to a lair...

Shaking my head, I collected my thoughts and tried to focus again.

"He would never do something like that! I believe him!" I finally answered with a determined look.

The Pikachu closed her eyes. "Is it because you like him?"

"W-what? NO!" I felt how my cheeks turned red a bit when I took one step back.

"Ri... Please..." Her voice had changed. Almost as if she tried to bring up the last bits of friendship she felt towards me.

My cheeks had already turned normal again when I answered. "I'm sorry... He's my friend too and I made a promise to him."

* * *

**Earlier...**

"... we come to Phase Four... Elimination..." Dusknoir carried on.

"E-elimination?!" I asked with a worried voice. 'Sure, I'm angry at Ri... But killing her?!'

The ghost-type sighed. "It has nothing to do with killing... You're just going to make the Riolu surrender by force or knock her out if you have to. The whole guild and the guildmaster should be enough to defeat her."

"I think it's not going to be as simple as that. Her fighting-style focus on swift knockouts... Some of the slower guild members might not even be able to move an inch before she knocks them out." I folded my arms and tried to remember the previous battles we had alongside her.

"That's why I chose you to come with a proper plan to fight her... You know her strenghts and weaknesses." he explained.

"After that, you bring her to me, so we can use her as a bait for Grovyle... He hopefully doesn't know that you are his real partner. That way, we could use Ri as blackmail to get him to turn himself in." the ghost-type finished.

My view wandered towards the ground.

"I... I still can't believe it." I turned away from him and slowly walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked in cold tone.

"I'm going to wait for her to wake up and ask her straight away." I was just about to reach the door when a black shadow flew through the edge of my vision.

Where the door used to be was now Dusknoir all of a sudden, giving me a soul piercing stare with his eye. "Why? So she can lie to you again and sabotage the ambush?"

Startled, I took one step away from him.

"Listen... I originally planned to take you with me into the future, once I have captured Grovyle. But here is the offer I was talking about. Should you be of assistance to me in this whole plan, I'm going to let you stay here in the past with Ozu." he said as his stare turned normal again.

My head wandered towards the ground again. 'I... I would have to leave Ozu if I don't help him?'

...

"You have a deal." I said with a blank voice.

His reponse was a little strange... An almost silent chuckle escaped his mouth before he spoke up again. "Very good... Come on, let's tell the others."

* * *

...

"You know what we have to do then..." she said, getting ready to fight.

I closed my eyes...

...

"Yes..." I answered, creating two bones in my hands.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 19**


	20. Phase Four

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 20 - Phase Four  
**

* * *

Time seemed to go slower when I opened my eyes again. As if my brain tried to give me some extra time to realize what I was about to do.

I looked around me.

To my left were Chimecho, Croagunk, Diglett and Dugtrio...

To my right were Loudred, Sunflora, Bidoof and Chorphish...

And in front of me... Ozu, Riley, Wigglytuff and Chatot...

'The whole guild... Twelve opponents...'

The situation that caused this serious battle wasn't really something to laugh about, but I couldn't help myself. A faint grin formed on my face while I planned my strategy.

My eyes wandered towards Chimecho.

'Her Psychic could easily immobilize me... The fight would be over in no time that way... Okay... I'll start with her.'

The plan that formed in my was to knock out the psychic-type in one hit and work myself up to the three Pokemon that would need a little more than a bone to the back of the head to be defeated.

My eyes wandered towards Wigglytuff and my friends.

Everything went normal again, when Riley gave out the order to attack.

"Now!" she yelled.

But instead of charging at me, the other guild members pulled out seeds which they brought up to their mouths.

A sign for me to make a move...

**BGM: Bravely Default - Wicked Flight**

Concentrating on Extremespeed, I dashed towards my first target. The psychic-type wasn't even able to let the seed float into her mouth before I used a well aimed bone to the back of her head to knock her out.

Chimecho was giving off a the sound of a bell, when my baton made contact. As her body slowly fell to the ground, her seed she had been holding in the air with her mind, wandered downwards too.

Still spinning in the air, I threw my right bone into the air and quickly grabbed the seed. I then let it slide into my pouch and landed on the ground, catching my baton again.

My view wandered towards the Croagunk next to me, who had just swallowed his seed.

I dashed behind him and pulled my arm in, preparing a "back-stab" attack towards his neck. When I threw the bone forward, the poison-type quickly moved his head to the side, evading my attack.

'What the...!'

I was stunned for a second when he turned around and threw his fist forward. At the last second, I managed to dodge his punch with a roll backwards.

'What kind of seed was that?!'

A green blur entered the side of my vision. Sunflora was throwing Razor Leaves at me. I quickly reacted and blocked them with my bones. A few sparks flew of my weapons when the sharp projectiles made contact.

The next attack was coming my way, as Croagunk went for another punch.

I increased my speed by using more aura and dashed behind the poison-type, going for a counter.

The super-effective bone strike to the back of his head knocked him out in one hit.

Another wave of leaves from Sunflora was coming my way. I had to do something about her...

This time, I threw my bones at her to block her Razor Leaves. My bones released their aura on contact and let out a small explosion, which stirred up a lot of dust between her, Bidoof, Loudred, Corphish and me.

My view wandered to my left. Diglett and Dugtrio were nowhere to be found.

Just when I thought about them, I felt that the ground underneath me was breaking apart.

I pushed myself away from the ground to evade a Dig attack from the smaller ground-type. Creating another overcharged bone in my hand, I immediately went for a counter, throwing my projectile downwards.

The bone made contact and busted into a small shockwave of aura again.

I wasn't able to debate if my attack knocked him out or not. Chatot was heading towards my direction with immense speed. His body was surrounded with dense airstreams, which only increased his speed even further.

Using Aerial Ace myself, I spun my body around and evaded his attack by inches. Concentrating on Extremespeed again, I used the momentum from Aerial Ace to spin myself around yet again and brought my right paw onto the flying-type's back.

The guildmasters assistant was sent towards ground with a loud blast from my Force Palm. He left a small crater on the impact.

Still flying in the air, my view wanted towards the rest of my opponents. I was slowly able to feel the exhaustion from my frequent use of Extremespeed.

Riley, Ozu and the guildmaster were just watching me, while Sunflora was sending another pair of leaves up to me.

Using my aura to create the dense airstreams around my body again, I dodged her projectiles with an aileron roll. However, one of them managed to hit my upper arm, making me grit my teeth as the razor cut through my flesh.

My eyes and ears focused onto Loudred who was shooting out a sound wave from his mouth. Supersonic.

I blended out everything that happened around me and used Own Tempo. The wave went right through my body, not having the slightest effect.

A grin formed on my face when I became aware of my surroundings again.

"SHE'S CONFUSED! GET HER NOW DUGTRIO!" the normal-type yelled.

I gasped when a giant stone pillar shot out from the ground underneath me all of a sudden. Stone Edge.

By using Aerial Ace yet again, I barely managed to evade it. I had to dig my left paw and feet into the ground to slow down my landing.

Loudred had a shocked expression on his face. "WHAT?!"

I dashed towards Sunflora, creating two new bones in my paws. Running past Loudred, who was still startled that his attack didn't have any effect, I prepared myself to knock out the grass-type next to him.

When I was behind her, I jumped up to her head, readying my bone.

My eyes widened when my bone hit a shield of flowers, which was growing out of her neck.

Landing back on my feet, I struggled to pull my baton back out.

I looked to my right. Corphish was almost in my face, swinging his claw down at me. Crabhammer.

Bringing my bone up to protect myself, I nearly fell to my knees when the attack connected.

A small shockwave was created when his claw impacted on my bone.

Letting my bones disappear, I quickly rolled out of their range and created one new baton in my left paw.

I gave Bidoof a quick glance, who was just watching me with a shocked expression.

Loudred was preparing another sound based attack. I concentrated on Extremespeed again and dashed behind the normal-type.

The stored energy from his blast shot out when a bone to the back of his head knocked him out.

The Pokemon fell to the ground and I focused on Sunflora and Corphish again.

I used all the aura I could bring up to get behind them, not even giving them the chance to react.

My first attack was a baton to the grass-type's neck. She was knocked out immediately and while I was wandering towards the ground again, I brought my left paw to Corphish's back.

The force from my Force Palm pushed him into the ground with a loud blast and sent me back into the air a bit.

I landed on my feet and quickly turned around. Bidoof was staring at me with wide open eyes.

He gulped and took one step backwards, when I walked towards him.

My ears twitched and I heard the ground behind me crack open. Pouring more aura into the the bone I was holding in my right hand, I turned around and threw my bone towards Dugtrio, who was trying to attack me from behind. A small explosion knocked him out and surprisingly made me stumble back a few steps.

I looked at Bidoof again. My vision was already beginning to turn blurry from using so much aura.

Ignoring my exhaustion, I used Extremespeed again and knocked the normal-type out with a light but well aimed blow to the back of his head.

The cloud of dust from before had already set down again and I was able to see my friends and the guildmaster again.

'Okay... Now comes the tough part...'

Taking a deep breath, I created a new bone in my left paw and focused my view on the fairy-type.

Using Extemespeed again, I dashed forward.

Just like at our match, at Marowak's Dojo, he didn't move an inch... But his eyes... They were following me closely when I dashed past him.

"Luuuu..."

My eyes widened when I pulled my hand in to prepare a strike.

The Wigglytuff turned around, his eyes still focused on me. Somehow I was able to feel a great amount of energy radiating from him.

"FIIIIII!" the fairy-type screamed with a wide open mouth.

I gasped when a huge amount of energy had formed in his mouth.

My opponent let his attack loose with a huge explosion and I was engulfed by a white blast of dense sound waves. Hyper Voice.

**Stop music**

My screams drowned under the loud noise his move made. The bones in my hands disappeared and I was sent flying backwards.

The landing on the floor was rough because it took my body quite a while to halt again.

My ears were ringing and my vision was even blurrier than before. I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

...

Pain.

My legs and arms were covered in bruises and cuts... My skin burned as if somebody had brushed me with sandpaper. My fur... A mess... The blood from my wounds gave my normally blue fur a couple of purple and red stains. My goggles... Broken... My scarf... Ripped and dirty...

Pushing my aching body up to my feet, I faced the guildmaster and my friends again.

"Do you have enough?" Riley asked.

I was panting hard and not really able to stand properly.

'Enough? No... I have been here before... Beaten and exhausted... Completely overpowered by my opponents.'

I didn't know why but the familiar feeling made me happy somehow.

The Pikachu became angry when I began to laugh all of a sudden.

"Hehehe..." My eyes met those of Wigglytuff.

"Is it...too late to...ask for...that rematch you promised me?" I panted with a grin.

"W-what?!" Riley yelled angrily, walking next to the fairy-type.

Ozu was just giving me a confused look. While I was looking at him, I noticed that he was still holding his seed in his hand.

I looked back to Riley.

"I'm not talking to you." I said, getting into my battle stance.

"What is wrong wi..." The Pikachu got interrupted by the pink Pokemon next to her.

"She's right... Hehehe!" Wiggltyuff held his arm in front of her and let out another giggle.

"Guildmaster! You want to..." She was interrupted again.

"Yup!" he confirmed taking one step forward.

...

I bit through my pain and dashed at him, pulling my right fist back.

The fairy-types eyes followed my movements again and just when my punch was about to connect, he sidestepped.

I concentrated on Extremespeed and only stirred up dust could be seen where I my foot had touched the ground when I dashed behind him again.

I threw my left elbow into his right side. But just like before... When my attack was about to hit him, he sidestepped again.

Using the momentum from my last attack, I shot my right right foot forward, aiming for his belly.

The fairy-type pushed out all the air from his lungs and pulled his stomach in, making my kick hit... Nothing.

I blinked when I was holding my foot in the empty space. "What the?!"

Wigglytuff immediately went for a counter and inhaled a huge amount of air, making his belly grow again.

At the same time he jumped forward, pushing me away with his stomach. The force he was able to deliver that way was more than expected, as I had to dig my feet and right paw into the ground to slow my landing down.

If I wanted to win this fight, I had to come up with a plan. When I got back up to my feet, I kinked together a bit. I felt completely drained and biting through my pain was getting harder with every second.

Concentrating all the aura I could bring up on Extremespeed once again, I dashed at the fairy-type.

When I was in reach, I touched his belly with my right paw.

Bringing up the rest of aura I still had, I prepared a full powered Force Palm.

I looked at the Wigglytuff... He was staring at me with his usual grin.

"Haaah!" I let out a scream when I released the stored energy.

The recoil from the blast made me stumble back a few steps. My arm hurt like hell and my vision turned blurry again.

My eyes widened when I saw that my attack didn't have any effect. Wigglytuff was still staring at me with his silly smile.

"W-what?!" I looked at him in shock.

"Hihihi!" I heard a chuckle from behind me, when the Pokemon in front of me suddenly exploded into white smoke.

Holding my right arm with my left one, I slowly turned around.

I knew what kind of move he had just used. "S-substitute?"

"Yup,yup,yup! Pretty nifty move to have!" the fairy-type cheered.

He was only a couple of steps away from me and had a happy smile on his face.

"And now..." Wigglytuff held his hand out, almost as if he was trying to embrace me... Or...

I took one step away and held my left paw out when I remembered what he had done the last time we fought. "Please... Don't..."

"Ahaha! I'm not going to use that again, silly!" he chuckled as he slowly got closer to me.

The fairy-type dashed towards me, preparing his attack.

He let out another laugh when he jumped at me. As soon as he touched me, my vision became occupied by a thick smoke.

I felt a punch to my right side... Left side of my face... Back...

A barrage of unavoidable attacks hit me as I was not even able to orientate myself...

Wigglytuff ended his Play Rough attack with one final kick to my belly, throwing me out of the white cloud.

I landed on my stomach and almost lost conciousness when I impacted on the ground.

...

Here I was... At the edge of unconsciousness... However, my mind was still able to somewhat think properly.

My body wasn't really able to get any information from outside... The pain was pretty much occupying all the input to my brain.

I had been in a similar situation before... However... This time it felt different.

'Dammit...'

I was mad about my defeat...

'It's over... Dusknoir has won... He's going to capture Grovyle and Temporal Tower is going to collapse... Time is going to stop... I... I couldn't stop him... My friends... Grovyle... What is going to happen to them?... What is going to happen to me?... Heck, I don't even care anymore... I've lost their friendship... I've lost everything...'

I tried to accept my defeat and just let go...

A strange thought entered my mind...

'But... I haven't really lost yet, have I? I can still try to get up and keep going. I could still win this and save them...'

I struggled to send out a signal to at least on of my muscles...

'Move, god dammit! Move!'

I wasn't able to move an inch... Logic told me that I wouldn't be able to to so, no matter how hard I tried... However... Something in my mind simply wouldn't let me accept defeat...

'Why? Why?! Can't I give up? I'm completely out of aura... I'm completely beaten... Why can't I just accept it?!'

Searching my mind for a reason, I came across a strange thought... I remembered something that Ozu said to me...

_Don't lose the faith in yourself..._

Those words... A strange feeling rushed through my head when I repeated them in my mind.

Something changed... The pain all over my body slowly faded and I felt something come up from deep inside of me. It felt like a fire, which was coming from my belly, beginning to crawl over the rest of my body.

I became aware of my surrounding again. The voices of Riley and the guild master entered my ears.

"You won... It is over..." Riley said.

"No..." I pushed my body up and slammed my right fist into the ground.

My eyes shot open and two blue paws entered my vision.

"This is not over!" The feeling of that fire inside of me was getting clearer as I felt it all over my body now.

My arms were starting to give off the blue aura I usually used for my attacks. I got back up to my feet, still looking at my hands.

'What... What is this?'

The rest of my body was emitting the same blue aura and the feeling inside of me was getting even more intense. As if the energy wanted to come out and escape my body.

Somehow I knew that I had to release it. All of it felt... Familiar.

Tensing up, began to concentrate on that fire inside of me.

I let out a battle-cry when I released the aura, creating a huge shockwave of energy around me. Dust was flying into every direction as the blue energy radiated from me.

Looking at the guild master and my friends again revealed that they had shocked expressions on their faces.

"Who are you?" the Pikachu muttered under her breath.

Wigglytuff was rather surprised than shocked actually...

My whole body was covered in a hull of aura. I felt great... All the pain from before... Gone...

Getting into my battle-stance, I smirked at the fairy-type in front of me.

Concentrating on Extremespeed, I dashed right in front of the guildmaster's face, pulling my fist back. I was actually surprised by the speed I just used.

This aura around me...

Not only was I able to put more aura into the move... It also felt like... The aura was stronger... It was the same one I usually used and completely different at the same time.

Keeping up my speed-enhancing move to strengthen my punch, I threw my fist into the fairy-type's face, digging my hand into it.

He was sent flying and landed a couple of feet away from me.

I landed on my feet and looked at my fist with wide open eyes.

Riley and Ozu were speechless... So was I.

Wigglytuff was getting back onto his feet, rubbing his swollen cheek with his left hand.

"That wasn't nice." Tears were forming in his left eye.

He tensed up again and awaited my next move. The fairy-type didn't have to wait long. I was already dashing at him again.

When I was in reach, I sent off a barrage of punches, using my enhanced speed.

The guild master was able to keep up with my assault and dodged every single one of them, keeping his eyes locked at mine.

Wigglytuff quickly rolled back, getting out of range.

"LUUUFIII!" In his roll, he had prepared another Hyper Voice, which he immediately let loose when our eyes met again.

Holding my arms in front of me, I tried to block some damage of the incoming blast.

I was engulfed by the white blast of energy with a loud blast again.

"Ngh." Instinct told me to release more aura to deflect his attack.

I did so and shot off a shockwave of aura around myself, dissolving the white stream of energy. I also regained my vision on the fairy-type. I immediately went for a counter and concentrated my energy into my right fist.

My opponent had a surprised look on his face, when I slammed my fist into the ground between us. Another shockwave of aura sent the Wigglytuff fly into the air.

Using Extremespeed again, I jumped after him pushing him even higher with three swift spinning-kicks.

By combining my already enhanced speed with Aerial Ace, I was able to fling myself above the fairy-type.

Touching his belly, I made eye-contact with him one last time. He must've been in pain but for some reason, he was still giving me his silly grin.

I concentrated a huge amount of aura into my paw and released it with an enormous blast. A shockwave was flying through the room as the fairy-type got shot towards the ground.

Another blast echoed through the cave when he made contact with the ground.

Landing on my feet, I waited for the dust to settle down and see if I had beaten my opponent or not.

The dust disappeared and... He was out cold... The fairy-type's whole body was covered in bruises and he wasn't moving anymore.

Even though Wigglytuff was unconscious, I could still see a faint smile on his face.

'I... I did it! I beat him!'

My ears twitched and I heard an electric move, coming from my right.

I quickly took one step back, evading the attack and turned my view to the sender.

Riley was growling at me, her cheeks sparking with electricity.

Ozu was standing right behind her, still having a shocked look on his face.

"I don't want to do this... Not like this!" I called over to her.

"Fine! Surrender then!" the electric-type called back.

"Riley... I swear to you... We are not trying to de..." She interrupted me.

"I don't want to hear it anymore! Just get this over with!" she yelled, getting onto her front legs and covering her tail with metal. "Come on, Ozu!"

The Chimchar next to her didn't respond. He was just staring at the ground with a sad look.

She grit her teeth and focused her eyes on me again.

There was no way I could stop her with words...

'Dammit.'

Something was off all of a sudden...

I grit my teeth when I felt how the fire that was burning inside of me slowly dimmed down again. The aura that was radiating from me floated into the air and I became aware of my injuries again.

"Ngh!" My left eye shut tight as I was able to feel the full exhaustion from my fight again.

Feeling completely drained again, I could only hope that I still had enough aura for my next move.

'One bone... That's all I need...'

**BGM: Persona 4 Arena - Princess Amagi (Extended)  
**

Holding my right arm out, I concentrated the last bits of aura into it and created a silver shining bone in it.

The Pikachu dashed forward, using Quickattack to do so.

My eye was still closed, making it harder for me to follow her movements.

Holding my bone with two hands, I brought it up like a sword, trying to block Riley's swipes. Sparks were flying into the air whenever our "weapons" made contact.

She kept her offensive assault up, making me stumble back with every strike from her.

When the Pikachu used a Thunderpunch directly after I blocked one of her swipes, I wasn't able to dodge or block her move.

I screamed when the electrical punch hit my face.

Stumbling back even further, I was holding my face with my left paw, while my bone was still in my right one.

The Pikachu didn't stop there. With an unbelievably fast dash, she got in close, aiming another punch to my stomach.

Her attack sent me flying and I landed painfully on my back.

"Are you done?!" she screamed after me.

Gritting my teeth, I slowly got onto my shaky legs again. The bone in my paw had almost completely dimmed down... It wouldn't withstand another one of her Irontail attacks.

I had to come up with a plan... The Pikachu was slowly coming closer to me, her paw sparking with electricity again.

'Attacks... No... Hand to hand combat?... She would fry me... Dammit!... Items? Ugh... I don't think she would let me pull out an Oran berry now... And that seed? Ugh... Here goes nothing.'

I brought my left paw to my "hip-pouch", pulling out the seed I had stolen earlier.

When the Pikachu realized what I was doing, it was already to late. The seed was already between my teeth. I bit down on it and waited for the effect to kick in.

Riley charged at me with another Quickattack... My exhausted body wouldn't be fast enough to evade her attack.

I braced myself for the impact, however, when her fist was about to connect, I felt different all of sudden...

Moving my head out of the way, I began to see the world in a similar to when I used Extremespeed. At that moment, I knew what kind of seed they had eaten.

'A Quick Seed? So that's how they managed to keep up with me.'

I jumped back, creating come distance between us. While I was doing so, I pulled out an Oran Berry from my pouch and swallowed it whole. The pain from my injuries faded and I felt some of my strength return to me.

My opponents speed increased drastically all of a sudden. I gasped when I barely managed to evade her next punch. She wasn't using Quickattack... The white aura was missing. 'She didn't eat a seed... Right?'

Strengthening my bone and creating a new one in my left one, I jumped back again, creating some more distance between us.

I threw my two bones at her and followed behind them with the extra speed from the seed.

My eyes widened when the Pikachu simply dodged them with quick sidesteps and prepared another Thunderpunch. 'How can she be so fast?'

Increasing my own speed even further by using Extremespeed, I dashed behind her, ready to attack her from behind.

The electric-type was able to follow my movements and quickly turned around, giving off the aura streams from her Quickattack doing so.

I couldn't hit her and had to dodge as she was throwing her fist at me again. Concentrating on Extremespeed, I pushed her hand away with my left one, being careful not to touch the electricity on her fist. I then put my right paw onto her chest.

Just when I released a Force Palm, I felt how a bolt of electricity went through my arm.

"Aagh!" Both of us screamed when we began to feel the force from each others attacks.

She was sent flying with a blast as the rays of lighting she had sent into my body dissolved in the air between us.

Streams of black smoke were coming off from the burn marks on my fur.

I looked at my opponent... She had crashed into a wall a couple of feet away from me. Flying face first to the ground, Riley let out another grunt when she made contact with the hard floor. Holding her chest, she got back onto her feet.

The Pikachu's right eye was closed and she was panting hard.

I was panting myself... The effect from the Quick Seed was slowly fading and I felt that the amount of aura, the Oran berry had given me, was getting low too.

She began to walk towards me, covering her right fist with electricity again.

Doing the same, I began to cover my right hand with aura, preparing another Force Palm.

I dashed at her, concentrating on Extremespeed. The Pikachu mimicked my movements and sprinted at me with immense speed.

Riley threw her fist forward when she was in range. I used my right paw catch her hand and released the Force Palm at the exact time we touched.

The electricity around her arm got shot away with the blast of aura. Tightening my grip on her hand, I pulled her towards me. At the same time, I was throwing my other fist forward, aiming for her face.

Her eyes widened right before my fist dug into her face. The punch made her stumble back a few steps. I quickly dashed after her, preparing yet another Force Palm.

Putting my glowing paw onto the dazed Pikachu's chest, I released the aura with a loud blast.

She let out a scream of pain when my attack shot her into the wall again. My opponent landed on the ground, not moving anymore...

**Stop music**

This was it... I had won... I wanted to be happy about it but... My awareness of the entire situation simply wouldn't let me... I remembered that there was one last person I had to take care of...

...

"Ozu..." I panted, slowly turning towards the Chimchar behind me...

Everything was blurry but he was looking at me with a shocked face and wide open mouth. I was happy that he had not yet decided to fight me.

"You're the last one..." Holding my sore right arm, I began to walk closer to him.

The fire-type was speechless and seemed to be stunned. He was still holding his seed in his hand.

"Will you listen to me?" I asked with a desperate voice.

"I..." He took one step away from me.

I stopped... My friend was obviously scared of me...

"I'm sorry..." My head sank towards the ground. "For everything... My reticence... The lies... I..."

"R-Ri... I..." It seemed like he didn't know what to say.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me... But... I need your help... We have to do now is warn Grovyle about Dusknoir's ambush and get the Time Gear somehow." I faced him again.

The Chimchar shook his head and seemed to tense up. "How am I supposed to believe you after something like this? Look around you!"

I looked around me. Riley... Wigglytuff... And the other guildmembers... Everybody was laying unconscious on the ground.

Gritting my teeth, I let my head sink down again. "You're right... I...'

"So what if you are saying the truth?! Do you think we will ever trust you again after everything you did to us?"

Those words shocked me. "B-but I... I thought..."

"I don't care anymore... I..." He pointed at the opening behind him. "Just go! Go to your friend Grovyle and warn him!"

"Ozu... Please... I can't do this alone. I really need my team member to back me up." I said, trying to convince him as a member of our team.

"Team member?! You think you are still a member of Team Ignition?!" he almost yelled at me.

"W-what?" I asked with a shaky voice.

"GO ALREADY!" The Chimchar turned away from me, baling his hands into fist.

I didn't know how to respond.

A black blur rushed trough the side of my blurry vision and I felt an ice-cold hand touch my left shoulder all of a sudden.

I gasped when I heard a deep voice behind me. "Phase Five..."

It felt like my skin was pierced by a thousand needles when a unbelievably cold chill began to spread from my shoulder.

Turning to my left revealed that a grey hand was laying on my shoulder. A layer of ice was spreading from it, slowly crawling over the rest of my body.

"Should Ri be able to defeat all the guild members, I will take care of her personally..."

Those were the last words I was able hear before the ice began to cover my face.

The pain intensified and soon after everything around me was dark, I lost consciousness.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 20**


	21. Captured

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Chapter 21 - Captured**

* * *

My head was spinning and my senses were dulled by pain when I slowly regained my consciousness again.

Becoming aware of my body, I felt that I was hanging in the air. Something that felt like a rope was tied around my hands and the tension I felt from my arms indicated that my body was held up by them.

As if the pain from my injuries wasn't enough, I now had to deal with an increasing soreness in my arms with every moment that passed.

My senses slowly came back to me, making me even more aware of the signals my body was sending.

I tried to open my eyes. A blurry image of my lower body and legs entered my vision. The ground underneath me wasn't far away... I was just high enough in the air, that my feet barely didn't touch the ground.

My hearing returned too, and I was able to hear muffled voices all around me. However, I wasn't able to understand a single word from them.

Trying to move my body only sent a wave of pain through my body, making me stop my attempts to free myself from the bindings around my hands.

The image of my body slowly became clearer. A few spots of ice were still covering my fur. The bruises and cuts from my previous fight were still visible. My body was covered with dust and red stains of blood. My pouches were nowhere to be seen and I couldn't feel my goggles around my neck.

I moved my eyes to my right and saw a tattered piece of cloth hanging down my upper arm at the edge of my vision.

'What happened? Ugh... Fuck... This hurts...'

A weak whimper escaped my mouth. The cut from Sunflora's Razor Leaf was beginning to hurt like it was on fire... My weight was pulling my body down, making me feel the tension in my upper and lower arms.

Struggling against the pain, I rose my head to find out where I was.

I was still inside of Crystal Cave. I could tell by the crystals which were growing out of the stone walls all around me. A huge opening was in front of me.

Some strange creatures caught my attention. Purple imp-like Pokemon were standing next to the entrance to whatever room I was in right now. Inspecting them further made me realize that they were Sableyes.

Two others of them were standing right next to me, watching the opening closely.

'Sableyes? Aren't they supposed to be Dusknoir's minions?'

The thought about Dusknoir made me remember what had happened.

'God dammit... I... I need to get out of here.'

Not trying to get noticed, I looked up above me. My hands were bound with a rope which was attached to a wooden beam above me. The beam was sticking out of a log that was rammed into the ground behind me.

While I was able to see what was behind me, I noticed that about twenty other Sableye were scattered across the room.

I realized what was going on here while I let my head sink down again.

'This... This is the ambush... When Grovyle shows up here, they are going to...'

My thought was interrupted when somebody came out from the opening.

Dusknoir was floating into the room, giving orders to the dark-types around him.

My hearing had completely recovered and I was finally able to hear what the Pokemon around me were saying.

"We need more of you by the entrance!" Dusknoir ordered, pointing at a group of Sableeye next to him.

He began to approached me.

I acted like I was still unconscious and closed my eyes.

"You two! Keep an eye on her..." Dusknoir's voice said in a strict tone.

"Yessir!" the two voices next to me replied.

"You know what to do when he shows up." the ghost-type added.

He was giving out another couple of orders to his other men. His voice moved away from me, so I opened my left eye to see what was going on.

About ten Sableye were covering the opening now. A few of them had crawled above the entrance clinging onto the wall above it.

'I need to do something... I...Ngh!'

Another quiet whimper escaped my mouth as the pain from my right upper arm was starting to become unbearable. I felt how a warm liquid ran down my arm. The wound must've opened up again.

'God dammit... This sucks...'

Gritting my teeth, I tried to stay silent.

Dusknoir's voice was coming closer again. The ghost-type was probably right next to me now.

"Okay! Everything is set up! Get ready!" he shouted into the room.

Then everyone went silent. All eyes were fixed on the rooms entrance.

I didn't know how much time really had passed after what felt like an hour of waiting. The struggle against the pain kept my mind busy all the time as it had intensified to an unignorable agony. Not able to really form a single clear thought, I could only try to bite through this torture.

I was beginning to hear footsteps, coming out of the entrance.

My eyes shot open.

The Pokemon all around me tensed up, ready to jump at anyone who might enter the room.

I immediately opened my mouth and screamed when I was able to recognize the shape in the shadow of the opening.

"RUN! IT'S A TRAP!" My voice echoed through the room.

The Sableyes next to me jumped to the sound of my voice and reacted immediately as my face made an unpleseant contact with a fist.

In my dazed state, I wasn't even able to resist against the hands which were tying something around my mouth.

The punch was harder than I expected as the edge's of my vision became black.

Only able to see blurry dots, I watched a green one become covered by purple one's.

I heard the sound from a fight and the green dot became visible again.

"Surrender, Grovyle! Or do you want to get your partner killed?" Dusknoir's voice yelled. Just when he said those words, I began to feel something sharp touch my throat. Probably a claw from one of the Sableye.

The fight ended and I was able to see clearly again.

Grovyle was standing in front of the opening, looking at me with a shocked look on his face. His leaves were extended and a couple of unconscious Sableye were laying around him.

I wanted to scream and tell him to leave me behind, however the muzzle around my snout made me only able to blurt out unclear grunts.

Another group of Sableye was surrounding him.

His eyes focused on Dusknoir, who was slowly floating towards him.

"Do you think you can get out of this? First of all, you would have to deal with the fact that we would kill your partner, should you decided to make another move." the ghost-type said with a confident voice. "Secondly, you would have to fight your way through about thirty Sableye and me, the only Pokemon you never managed to defeat before."

Grovyle grit his teeth and looked at me again. His inner conflict must've been at its climax right now as his whole body was shaking.

"So... What is your choice?" Dusknoir asked with an evil chuckle at the end.

...

My friend let his head sink towards the ground and pulled his leaves back in, cursing under his breath while he did so.

He let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Riley." the grass-type said before the Pokemon around him began to beat him up.

Ripping his backpack from his back, the dark-types sliced at him with their claws.

One of them carried the backpack to Dusknoir while the others continued to attack Grovyle.

The Sableye stopped and a beaten Grovyle was revealed underneath them. Two of them tied his arms together behind his back while another one attached a muzzle around his mouth.

Dusknoir floated up to the defeated grass-type, already holding a Time Gear in his hand, which he pulled out from Grovyle's bag.

An evil laugh left his mouth before the ghost-type gave out his next order. "Knock them out and take them to the prison-cart."

At the exact moment he ended his sentence, I felt something hard, hit the back of head.

* * *

My head hurt like it was about to explode when I woke up again. I was laying on my right side what made me forcefully remember the open wound on my upper arm again.

I opened my eyes and found myself inside of a metal room. The room was shaking constantly, making my head hurt even worse.

Trying to move only made me realize that my hands were now bound together behind my back and that the muzzle from before was still on around my snout.

'Where... Where am I?'

Another tremble went across the room.

'Ugh... Right... Dusknoir said something about a cart.'

With a grunt of pain, I managed to bring my body up into a sitting position and leaned against the wall behind me.

A metal door with a small window with steel bars was at the other side of the carriage.

To my right was Grovyle who seemed to slowly wake up too. The grass-type was moving and grunted when he noticed the bindings around his hands and snout.

His body was covered with cuts and bruises. The Sableye beat him up really good. His face was swollen and the green scales on his body have become a brownish color due to the dirt and dust that covered his skin.

His eyes opened and it took him a while to orientate himself. The grass-type sat up too and leaned himself against the same wall as I did.

I looked into his golden eyes, giving him a questioning look.

Something was off... The thing, I admired the most on him, was missing. The look that told you that everything would turn out good was gone and replaced by a look that mimicked my own.

I tried to say something... The "words" that left my mouth were not understandable.

The grass-type responded by shaking his head.

Breaking eye-contact, I let my head sink towards the ground.

'God dammit... I'm not even able to tell him now...'

...

I took another quick glance at Grovyle. His was hanging down as well.

'What are they going to do with us?... Kill us? Lock us away?... Ugh... There is nobody that could help us... Riley... Ozu... The guild... They must hate me now... I... I've lost everything...'

Another tremble went across the room, which made me bump closer to the grass-type next to me. The wound on my arm crashed against his upper arm and another wave of pain shot through my body.

As if the pain alone wasn't enough, I had my mind crowded with thoughts of doubt and loss.

A desire to do something I really hated, was beginning to slowly well up inside of me as tears were starting to form in my eyes.

The anger that always came with them got turned into even more desperation very quickly. There was nobody I could project it at, other than myself.

'Don't cry... Not... Not in front of him...'

That last thought flew through my head before another signal of pain finally broke my resistance.

With a loud whimper, I let go and the tears began to flow out of my eyes.

I closed my eyes and let my head sink down... I felt how the warm drops my tears fell on my lower body.

The muzzle on my mouth kept me from sobbing loudly and all that came out were grunts and whimpers.

Another tremble pushed me against Grovyle. I didn't want him to see me like this, but my mind decided to look up to his face.

The image was blurry but I was able to see a look on his face, that I had never seen before. A look that said something like, "I understand your pain." The grass-type slid closer to me and looked at his shoulder as if he tried to indicate me to cry everything out there.

I did just that and leaned my head against Grovyle, not caring about how close our bodies were nudged together.

For probably an hour I was sitting there, leaning against him and crying out my depressions.

...

My body was still pushed against his, when the tears on my eyes had dried down again. At the back of my head, I had a thought of how this might have looked like but I didn't care.

I just wanted somebody to be near me... Somebody to share my pain with...

...

* * *

After a while, it felt like as if the carriage had stopped. We heard voices from outside... A lot of voices...

When the iron-door in front of us opened, I knew where they were coming from.

Behind the silhouette of a Sableye, I was able to see the main square of Treasure Town. A huge crowd of Pokemon was gathered all around it.

"Come on! Get out!" the dark-type ordered.

I looked at Grovyle, who was already getting up.

I tried to lift up my aching body, and after a short struggle, I managed to get onto my shaky legs.

We walked closer to the exit of our metal prison and when I was right in front of the Sableye, he grabbed me and pulled me out of the carriage.

The dark-type pushed me to two other Sableye, who put me between them and grabbed me on my upper arm.

I looked around myself.

The huge crowd of Pokemon was looking down at me and a lot of mumbling and straight up insults towards me could be heard from them.

The metal-carriage behind me had a Tauros attached to it. Another group of Sableye was untying the ropes the normal-type used to pull the cart.

The Sableye from before pulled out Grovyle and pushed him against two other dark-types, who grabbed the grass-type like the other ones did with me.

My view went back in front of me. The crowd was building a circle around Dusknoir, who had something like a portal next to him.

The Sableye pushed me forward... I heard more insult from the crowd...

Letting my head sink towards the ground, I tried to evade the looks of hate and disgust everyone was giving me.

When we were almost at the circle around Dusknoir, I noticed something strange... A familiar dizzy feeling entered my head and my vision became blurry...

I knew what made me feel like this but how it could happen right now was a mystery to me... Maybe Dusknoir still had the Time Gears with him.

We entered the circle and I let out a mental gasp, when I noticed who was standing a couple of feet away from the ghost-type.

My friends and the rest of the guild members... They were covered in bandages and gave me similar looks to the rest of the crowd.

I didn't even dare to look at Riley... Letting my head sink down again, I tried to evade their hateful looks.

The Sableye brought me next to Dusknoir and the portal... The dizzy feeling became worse with every second.

When Grovyle and his captors were in position too, Dusknoir floated forward and got everyone's attention.

"I can proudly announce that we managed to capture the timegear-thief Grovyle and his accomplice!" the ghost-type said with a loud voice.

The crowd responded with cheers and mumbles.

"We will bring them back to our time and give them their proper punishment, based on the heaviness of their crimes!" he continued.

Dusknoir then looked at the Sableye who were holding me, indicating them to push me through the portal.

I tried to resist but in my current state there was nothing I could.

The dark-types dragged me in front of the portal which I assumed to lead into the future.

My vision was completely blurry now and the dizzy feeling made it hard for me to keep on standing.

"Do it." Dusknoir's voice ordered.

The Sableye pushed me up by my arms, what made a grunt of pain escape my mouth and threw me into the portal.

As soon as I touched the passageway to another time, everything began to spin and a strange sensation ran over my body. My left arm felt like it was on fire and overall I just felt like I'm being ripped apart.

The pain and spinning faded and I felt how my face made an uncomfortable contact with the ground.

Rolling onto my belly, I felt how the bindings on me were suddenly gone.

I opened my eyes and was greeted with the blurry image a stone floor.

Above it was a blue portal...

I was able to see underneath the portal and noticed a group of Pokemon who's eyes were focused on the portal in front of me. The rest of the scenery looked exactly like the main square of Treasure Town.

Nobody seemed to take any notice of me as a couple of bushes were occupying the view behind the portal.

'What the... I... I'm still here...'

At the left corner of my vision, I was able to see a black paw with something like a spike sticking out of it. I didn't know if it was mine or not... My whole body was aching and my head was spinning.

At the right corner, I was able to see a Grovyle that was dragged towards the portal in front of me by two Sableye.

I tried to move and do something but my muscles didn't respond to any of my orders.

My hearing was muffled but I managed to hear another order from Dusknoir.

The grass-type was thrown into the portal and unlike me, disappeared when he went through it.

'What is happening?'

The dizziness became worse and I felt myself losing conciousness.

Something touched my sides all of a sudden... Something or somebody was picking me up from the floor.

The last things I was able to see, before everything went black, was the image of a blue tail and two black, dog-like feet.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 21**

* * *

...

Mind blown?

Haha, another twist! I love it!


	22. The Spirit of Faith

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

Well... I'm dropping the bomb on you.

Chapter title... Story title... Notice something?

* * *

**Chapter 22 - The Spirit of Faith**

* * *

**BGM: Id (Darkness) - Fire Emblem Awakening**

Here I was again... The black void, where time didn't seem to exist...

My body felt non-existant and my thoughts echoed through the darkness.

_This again... What is this place?_

_Hello?! _

_..._

_Is somebody there?!_

_..._

The presence that usually appeared here after a while, didn't show up this time.

I was alone.

...

Something was strange when I regained the awareness of my body again. The dream-like coat was placed over my senses but all of it just felt... Different.

The scenery changed and what I assumed to be the memory of a forest entered my vision.

_I was somewhere in a forest. The whole scenery seemed familiar somehow and something that was laying on the ground in front of me caught my attention. I walked over to it and bent down to pick up the object. The fog around it from the previous times was gone and I was finally able to identify it. It was a Time Gear. I noticed something strange about my paw. It was black and a spike was sticking out at its backside. But somehow... It felt right to me. _

_All of a sudden the earth began to shake violently and I heard something from behind me. Turning around, revealed that a wave of darkness was coming my way. The Time Gear in my hand began to glow when the black smoke reached me. It's light was somehow preventing the fog from touching me._

_My view focused onto the cloud in front of me. I felt another presence. Two red glowing eyes appeared in the darkness. They belonged to something evil... A beast... Something that was intending to kill you... A shiver ran down my spine when it slowly came closer to me._

_The glow of the Time Gear intensified, when the creature in front of me let out a mighty roar. A shockwave was shot into my direction and the glow from the gear in my hand became blinding. My whole body felt as if it was ripped apart and crushed at the same when the wave went through me._

_With an unbearable feeling of pain, I was able to see those eyes one last time before everything began to spin and slowly turn black._

**Stop music**

* * *

My eyes shot open and a gasp escaped my mouth.

Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm down my racing heart.

'What... What was that?... I... That was a Time Gear... And the forest? It... I... Ugh... Where am I?'

I was laying in a bed. My head was rested on a pillow and my body was covered with a blanket. Hay was used as a mattress.

Above me was something that looked like the ceiling of a cave.

I brought my right paw up to my head to wipe off the sweat from my forehead.

When my hand entered my vision, I noticed something strange. My usually blue hand was black and a silver spike was sticking out on it's backside.

'What the?!'

I quickly brought my body into a sitting position and pulled the blanket off me.

When I saw my body, I gasped.

Things had changed.

Something that looked like a black belt of fur was growing around the lower part of my belly now. My blue tail between my still black legs looked slightly longer than usual. A couple of bandages were wrapped around my feet and tail. My stomach and chest were covered with cream-colored fur and a spike was sticking out of my chest. My right arm was still covered with blue fur. A bandage was wrapped around the upper part. However, my hand was black and the simple bump from before had turned into a spike.

When I inspected my left arm, I noticed that it looked and felt strange somehow. It was completely black... Not a single spot of blue could be found on it. The fur on it looked like a huge burn mark that went up all the way to my shoulder.

A jolt of pain shot through my head when I looked at it closely.

_"I'm sorry... I... I never wanted to hurt you..."  
_

"Ngh!" It took a while before the pain faded.

'What the...? When did my arm get burned like that? Why is it... What?'

I shook my head and inspected my body further. It was already dawning on me what could have happened to my body.

I brought my paw up to my face.

My snout was longer... My teeth were different too as my incisors had noticable grown in size.

I moved my paw to the right side of my head. My aura sensor was still there, however, it was a little further to the back of my head than usual. I was able to feel another one right next to it.

The two sensors had become four.

"What the hell?" I said to myself.

A gasp escaped my mouth, when I heard my own voice.

My voice was different too. I sounded... Older...

It took my mind a while before it came to the final conclusion.

'I'm... I'm a Lucario... How?... Did I evolve? What the hell happened back the..'

My eyes widened and I remembered what happened at the main square of Treasure Town.

'Grovyle! I... What the hell happened?! Why am I still in this time?... I... What am I supposed to do now?... I... I need to find out where I am first... I can plan my next move afterwards.'

I looked around and found out that I was in a circular room that resembled the inside of a cave. Light was shining in from the entrance that was at the other side of the room. It was furnished with a couple of wooden shelves and cabinets. Next to my bed was a little log that functioned as a nightstand. A table with two chairs was placed to my left.

As I got up from my bed, I noticed that my whole body was bigger now.

It was strange to have about twice the height from before but... This somehow wasn't the first time I had seen the world from this point of view.

My legs were still a little shaky but without the confusion of my changed body, I felt fine.

Just when I wanted to turn towards the exit and head out of the cave, I noticed a silhouette in the opening.

A Lucario with a blue scarf around its neck entered the room and approached me.

On its shoulders were metal shoulder-plates that were attached to his body with leather bands that ran around its chest in a "x-pattern". A metal ring, that was connected to the bands, was put onto the fighting-type's chest-spike, further supporting his armor.

A leather belt with a couple of pouches was tied around its hip.

I tensed up a little when I noticed that a sword was connected to the right side of its belt. Its weapon looked a little strange... The hilt was much longer than it would've been with a normal sword.

"Hello, how do you feel?" The Pokemon's voice was male.

I hesitated a bit before I answered. "Uhm... I'm fine... Thank you..."

"I am Cobal, a royal knight of Alteal." he introduced himself. "What is your name?"

'Knight of Alteal? What the hell is going on here?'

"I'm... Uhm... Ri..." My new voice still startled me a bit.

"Nice to meet you, Ri. You might wonder what is going on and where you are... Well, don't worry. I'm going to explain everything to you... Do you want to take a seat?" the fighting-type asked, pointing at the table and chairs.

I nodded and hesitantly took place on one of them, careful not to sit onto my longer tail.

The Lucario followed me and sat down on the chair that was on the opposite side of mine.

"Alright, then... First of all, you are at my tribe near Crystal Cave." the Lucario explained.

'Crystal Cave... At least I know where I am now.'

"I would like to ask you a few questions before I go on... Are you okay with that?" he asked in a polite tone.

"Uhm... Okay." I replied, worrying a bit. I had no idea if he knew that I was the person that helped the timegear-thief.

"Thank you..." The Lucario closed his eyes for a moment. "I know that this is pretty rash but... Are you a human?"

I was startled by his question. At first I wanted to debate if lying to him would've been smart but he probably already knew if he brought it up straight away.

"Y-yes... How did you know?" I responded with a nervous voice.

"First of all, your aura is something I have never seen before... And secondly... Ehm... I will come to that later." he explained. "Now to my next question... Do you know where you come from?"

'Where I come from?'

"Uhm... The last place I have been was Treasure Town..." I answered.

"Yes, I already know... I meant before that..." the fighting-type clarified.

'He knows that I was in Treasure Town... Did he see what happened?... Okay... I should be careful... But what exactly does he mean with before that?... The human world?... Ugh...'

"I'm sorry... I have amnesia... I woke up in a forest a couple of weeks ago, with no memory what so ever..." I said with a sad look.

"Amnesia? I see..." The fighting-type folded his arms and muttered something under his breath. "Okay... About the thing that happened at the main square of Treasure Town... You are the Riolu that got thrown into the portal, right?"

'Wait... If he knows about the portal... That means he knows that I'm Grovyle's accomplice... Okay, now I have to be careful. But why would he ask something like this?... Maybe... Maybe he is talking about that I'm a Lucario now...'

"Have you seen what happened? I remember that the Sableye threw me in and that I came out on the other side. I blacked out shortly after that..." I explained.

"So you are the same person... Just wanted to make sure... Well... What I have seen was that you were still a Riolu when they threw you in... You went right through and a Lucario fell into the bushes behind the portal." Cobal replied.

"That means that you also know that I helped the timegear-thief then..." I said, tensing up a bit.

"Yes, I am aware of that... But that doesn't matter right now." he said with a calm voice before he placed his paws onto the table. "I have one last question for you..."

The fighting-type looked directly into my eyes. "Does the name, Spirit of Faith, sound familiar to you?"

"Spirit of Faith?" I repeated, searching my mind for any information about it.

A jolt of pain rushed through my head... The name sounded familiar but I wasn't able to say that was behind it.

I faced Cobal again. "It does... But... I have no idea why."

...

He folded his arms again.

"Okay... Well, let me explain it then. There is a certain legend in Alteal... It tells of a Lucario that showed up in a couple of events from the past. Catastrophes that threatened the balance of the world... Wars that almost caused the death of millions of Pokemon... This Pokemon always showed up out of nowhere and saved the world from those disasters. It is known as the Spirit of Faith."

"Uhm... Okay... But why are you telling me this?" I asked in a confused tone.

"Well, the Spirit of Faith is supposed to be a human-turned Lucario with a special mark... A charred, left arm." the Lucario said, pointing at my arm.

I rose it from underneath the table and inspected it again. "A charred left arm?"

'This is supposed to mark me as this Pokemon from this legend? What... How did I get this? Ugh... And why do I feel so strange when I look at it?'

"Yes... You fit perfectly into that description." Cobal replied.

'I... But how? Ugh... God damn amnesia... But... If what he says is true somehow... I would finally have a real identity...'

"Not only do you have the appearance of the Spirit, you also seem to be strong enough to actually have done those heroic deeds." Cobal continued.

"Strong enough?" I asked, putting my arm down again.

"Well... First of all, we have your Aura Garment." the Lucario explained.

"Yeah, I already know about that one... Supposedly took me a couple of months to learn." I replied.

"One and a half years." the Lucario said in a somewhat disappointed tone, pointing at his chest with his paw.

"You have it too?" I asked with a surprised look.

The fighting-type nodded and put his paw back on the table.

"Anyway... And those other things..." he said in a tone that almost sounded... Jealous. "Brute Breed, Aura Burst... And... Ehm..."

He stopped, when he noticed the confused look I was giving him.

"Your amnesia is really that bad, huh? Okay, then... Let me explain." he sighed. "You're not able to see aura, right?"

'Not able to see aura?' I remembered that Marowak told me something like that in his dojo.

"Yes..." I confirmed.

"There are two kinds of ways a Riolu or Lucario is able to use aura. First of all you have the physical way, where you control the aura that flows through your body. The second way is where you use it with your mind... Being able to sense a living beings life-force for example. When a Riolu is born, it has a certain tendency towards one of those 'paths'. A Brute Breed is somebody who has a natural talent to control the aura in and around his body. The amount of aura they can store is drastically increased and overall, their bodies are built for combat. However, this talent doesn't come without a price... The ability of such a Riolu to sense aura is poor... Almost absent." he explained.

"That would explain that..." I commented, fiddling around with my aura sensors.

The Lucario cleared his throat. "Now the other ability I mentioned was Aura Burst. Not many Pokemon from our species have this hidden ability... It gets inherited and only a couple of tribes and families are known to have it."

'Inherited? How am I supposed to inherit a secret ability from a Pokemon if I'm a human?'

The thought made me blink. It sounded familiar... As if I had asked myself that exact same question before. I shrugged it off and paid attention to Cobal's lecture again.

"Well, this ability works as an emergency aura-boost... You subconsciously store a huge amount of aura in your body... Separately from the aura that you use normally. That way it can be released when you're out of your natural supply or your body is under a lot of stress..." the fighting-type explained. "How it activates, is a mystery though... There seems to be a mental lock in the users mind, that keeps the ability from activating, should he not really need it."

"Oh, so that was the aura I used when I fought Wigglytuff!" I commented, thinking back to my fight with him.

"That's how you caught my attention in the first place. The whole tribe felt your Aura Burst..." he continued. "The chief sent me to investigate and well..."

"When I arrived at Crystal Cave, I was only able to see how a couple of Sableye carried two unconscious Pokemon to a metal cart." the Lucario carried on. "I followed the carriage they kept you in and observed the whole scene at the town... Your aura felt strange in general and somehow I knew that there was something special about you."

"And after the thing with the portal you got me out of there and carried me all the way back to your tribe." I continued with a questioning tone.

Cobal nodded again.

...

"So I'm supposed to be this... Spirit of Faith..." I said, folding my arms.

'It would make sense... Grovyle and Riley tried to safe the world from the planet's paralysis... And if this Spirit is supposed to appear whenever there is a catastrophe...'

"Well, I guess you are... I wonder how you ended up here out of all places... You mostly appeared on Alteal..." the Lucario wondered.

I gave him a confused look. "Uhm... I still don't get what this Alteal is really supposed to be."

"It's the biggest continent of our planet. I am a knight of the royal familiy that runs the capital city of that land."

"So how did you end up here at this tribe, if you are supposed to be a knight from another continent?"

"Oh, well... I'm here to visit my family... I was born here and decided to go on a journey to hone my combat-skills. I ended up in Alteal and... Ehm... I digress... I will tell you more about me later... Should you want me to."

"Uhm... Okay... And how is this Spirit of Faith supposed to show up? Maybe that explains how I ended up in all of this." I questioned.

"I'm not really sure... The legend doesn't tell exactly how you appear... Some Pokemon assume that the Spirit of Faith able to travel through time itself... Some say that you really are a ghost that forms a solid form whenever a great disaster threatens the world." the Lucario answered.

'Traveling through time... Or being a ghost? Ugh... If I could remember...'

Another question formed in my head. "Do you know anything about this Spirit as a person? A name for example?"

"I'm sorry, I already told you everything I know about the legend... And... I thought your name was Ri?" he asked in a confused tone.

A sad look appeared on my face. "That's a name my friends came up with... I have no idea what my real one is."

He gave me a look if concern. "Oh... Sad to hear that..."

My head sank towards the ground. 'Ugh... That means I still have no idea who I really am... I... I guess I'll have to stay who I am right now... Ri.'

"Anyway, how did the Spirit of Faith end up with a Pokemon that tried to steal the Time Gears?" Cobal asked with an expectant voice.

'Can I tell him the truth? Would he believe me?... Screw it. I'm done with lying.'

A deep sigh escaped my mouth before I answered. "This is going to be a long story..."

I then told him my whole story...

How I woke at Treeshroud Forest... My journey with Grovyle... The incident with Ditto at Limestone Cavern...

He mumbled something to himself when I came to the part where I fought it. "So it used that form, huh?"

I gave him a short confused look before I continued.

When I told him about Riley and Ozu, I felt a little guilty and depressed... He seemed to noticed and gave me a confused look while I continued by telling him about the Expediton.

The days I spent at the guild... The day when Dusknoir appeared... How I lied to my friends to keep myself hidden from Dusknoir... Underground Lake... And the recent events from Crystal Cave.

"... that's the last thing I remember before I woke up here." I finished.

The Lucario in front of me brought his paw up to his chin and looked like he debating about whether to believe me or not.

He let his hand sink down again and closed his eyes for a moment. "So what do you intend to do now?"

It took me a while to come up with an answer.

'I have to find out what happened to Grovyle and the Time Gears before I can come up with a proper plan. Maybe I should go back to Treasure Town and see if I can find something out... But... Did Dusknoir figure out that I am still in this time? Are they looking for me?... It wouldn't matter... They would look for a Riolu... Heh... And now that I'm a Lucario, I could go there without raising any suspicion.'

"Uhm... I will head back to Treasure Town and try to find out what happened after you brought me away from there." I finally announced.

"I see... Well, I'm afraid that I can't let you go right away. I need to talk about your story with the leaders of the tribe." The fighting-type got up from his chair. "Also, you still have some injuries... Why don't you stay here one day longer and learn a little more about your species? I will tell you about the leaders decision tomorrow. Are you okay with that?"

'He won't let me go yet?... Ugh... What if I would have to...'

I quickly pushed the thought away.

'I will just spend another day here and wait for his decision... Maybe they will help this Spirit of Faith I'm supposed to be...'

"Uhm... Learn more about my species?" I asked.

"Yes, I will introduce you to a friend of mine. She will show you around and tell you some things about the daily routines of our tribe." he answered.

'She?' I was a little curious to see another girl that was the same species as mine. A strange thought entered my mind. 'Maybe she can tell me what makes this body attractive... Wait... Why...' I shook my head and got up from my chair.

"Okay..." I said, following the Lucario towards the exit.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 22**

* * *

And there you have it!

With those little hints I was talking about, I meant that "Ri" is the protagonist of a completely different story!

She is the hero of the main project I'm planning!

But all of that is going to be revealed later... Once this twist in time is unraveled...


	23. A 'date' with the Smasher

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

I'm kind of surprised where the 'sub-plot' of this chapter has gone... You'll see what I mean...

* * *

**Chapter 23 - A 'date' with the Smasher**

* * *

The sunlight from outside blinded me as we walked out of the cave.

My eyes adjusted to the light and I was able to see something that looked like a small village. A lot of wooden shacks and cream-colored tents were built on a huge clearing, that was surrounded by trees and bushes.

Looking at the suns location, I could tell that it was probably short before noon.

Once we left the cave for good, I took a quick glance behind me. A rocky cliff was running to my left and right. I could see another couple of cave-entrances, scattered along the wall. It was about ten meters high and another set of of trees and bushes was growing on top of the structure.

I noticed a lot of Riolu and Lucario, looking at me with curious and confused faces, when I examined my surrounding further. A bit startled, I followed Cobal closely as he brought me to another Lucario, which was standing next to a tent, fiddling around with a couple of baskets.

"Excuse me!" Cobal called out to the Pokemon, getting its attention.

The Lucario took a quick glance at me, before it gave the fighting-type next to me a confused look. It had a pink piece of cloth tied around its hip like a belt, so I assumed that it was female.

"What's up, Cobal?" The voice was female, confirming my assumption.

"This is Ri, the girl I brought here yesterday evening. Could you spend the day with her until dinner? I really need to talk with the chief about some important matters and..."

She interrupted him with a happy smile. "Sure thing!"

Cobal thanked her and faced me again. "Alright then! The whole tribe is going to eat dinner together this evening. I will meet you there."

The knight said good-bye and headed towards the biggest building on the clearing. A big, cream-colored tent that was decorated with blue carpets on the outside.

I looked at the Lucario, I was supposed to spend the day with.

"Hi, there! I'm Sylee! Nice to meet you!" she greeted with a warm smile.

"I'm Ri..." I replied, looking at the other tribe-members, who were still looking at me with their curious looks.

"So you are the one that caused the tumult. That Aura Burst of yours really is something else! Everyone felt that huge amount of energy from Crystal Cave yesterday." the fighting-type exclaimed, keeping up her happy attitude.

I rubbed the back of my head. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble. I wasn't really planning on using it. Uhm... I learned about the fact that I have it just a couple of minutes ago actually."

She seemed to be a little confused by my last statement. "Huh? Did your parents not know that it runs in your family?"

My head sank towards the ground. "Uhm... I have amnesia, so I don't really remember a lot about my past."

The Lucario was a little startled and put on an apologetic expression. "Sorry..."

"It's no problem. You didn't know." I replied, trying to cheer her up again.

"So you don't remember where you got that from either." she blurted out, staring at my left arm.

I didn't know why, but I felt a little offended when she mentioned my arm. I didn't like the staring... But not because it bothered me personally... I couldn't explain it... It was a really strange feeling...

"No, I have no idea where I got it from... Uhm, I woke up a couple of weeks ago as a Riolu, with no memory what so ever. When I woke I didn't even ha..." Sylee interrupted me.

She looked very surprised all of a sudden. "Wait! Does that mean you evolved?! Nobody has been able to, since a couple of months ago!"

The noise from her voice received us another couple of stares from the other Pokemon around us.

"Uhm..." I hesitated a bit before I answered. "I'm not really sure... I was still a Riolu before I woke up here at your tribe... It was quite shocking when I noticed the changes."

The Lucario's mouth was wide open. "What?"

"It's true. These are my first moments as a Lucario." I added, feeling a little embarrassed for some reason.

She was speechless for a moment before she shook her head and put on a happy smile again. "And?! How do you like it?"

"I'm still getting used to it... Uhm... Is it normal that I feel twice as heavy than before?" I asked.

"Of course it is! You got the steel-type from your evolution!" the fighting-type replied. "Your bones are harder than steel now and your skin has a thin layer of metal underneath it."

"Really?" I asked, pulling on the skin of my right arm.

She put her paw up to her chin. "Well, that's the easiest way to explain it. It's not really a metal... Just a layer of skin that is about as sturdy as steel."

"Oh, I still remember my the day I evolved like it was yesterday! I was eighteen back then and..." Sylee blinked and seemed to be a little embarrassed all of a sudden. "Err... Sorry for asking but... How old are you? You look very young for a Lucario..."

The question made me blink. The last time I asked myself that question, I answered it with fifteen. But now... The number sounded wrong all of a sudden.

"I think I'm... Seventeen." I answered. Seventeen sounded right somehow.

I shrugged the weird feeling off and awaited her response.

"Wow! To think that you already are a Lucario with seventeen! Most of us evolve when they are around twenty years old... This is very impressive!" she beamed.

'Ugh... I'm not even sure of that... I need to find out what happened at that portal. The portal to the future is the reason I turned into a Lucario... Hmm... If it lead to another time... Maybe it affected me somehow and made me older.'

I noticed that I had drifted off and quickly shot out the obvious response. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty now. Almost twenty-one!" The fighting-type put her arms behind her head, keeping up her smile.

"Uhm... So what are we going to do now? Cobal said that you would show me around the tribe." I put my paws on my hips and looked at the village again.

"Oh, I still have to bring those berries to our doctor. Would you help me with that?" the Lucario asked, getting my attention again.

Behind her were a couple baskets of berries. She was already picking two of them up from the ground. I grabbed the remaining two baskets and followed her through the village.

A little mumbling could be heard between the other members of the tribe.

"Is she the one Cobal brought here yesterday?"

"Mommy, why is her aura so weird?"

"I wonder where she came from."

"What happened to her arm?"

The Lucario in front of me stopped in front of one of the shacks.

"This is our infirmary!" she said, knocking onto the door with her foot.

A Riolu opened the door after a while and welcomed us inside.

The room had a couple of beds and closets for medical supplies in it.

"Hello, Nelik! Here are the Oran berries you wanted!" Sylee greeted as we walked into the room.

"Ah, thank you Sylee! Put them over there." It's voice sounded male. He seemed to be a little older than the other couple Riolu from outside. A small pair of glasses could be seen on his nose.

We followed his instruction and put the baskets onto a table at the right side of the room.

We faced the smaller fighting-type again.

"Hi, I'm Ri!" I greeted the Riolu with a smile.

"Nice to meet you... So you are the Aura Burst girl. I was quite shocked when Cobal brought you here. You were in a pretty bad shape." he replied.

"Oh, so you fixed me up again." I combined, looking at the bandage on my right upper arm.

"Yes, I did. Cuts, bruises, burns, signs of freezes and a big open wound on your right arm. How did you manage to get beat up like that?"

"First of all, thank you. Uhm... I had a little confrontation with a couple of frie... Uhm... Pokemom." I answered in a sad tone.

"I see... Now there is a question I would like to ask, if you don't mind." Nelik said, looking at my left arm.

"Okay." I replied, bracing myself to not being able to answer his question.

"Who treated your left arm? It has completely healed but the signs on your skin underneath that black fur, indicate that this was a burn so severe that the arm normally would have had to be amputated. I would really like to know which doctor was able to do a miracle like that." the doctor explained in a serious voice.

A little startled, I held my left arm with my right one. "R-really? Uhm... Sorry. I didn't have it before I woke up here... I have no idea where it came from."

The Riolu responded with a confused look. "What? How do you mean that?"

I let out a deep sigh, before I explained the mysterious situation I was in right now. Turning into a Lucario, having a charred arm all of a sudden. Leaving out the parts of the story that mentioned that I had something to do with the timegear-thief of course. The incident with the portal was an "accident". I also mentioned my amnesia and memory shreds to which he responded with an interested look for some reason.

"I see... Well, this is very mysterious indeed. I have no idea how a portal could cause an evolution like that." he responded, fixing the position of his glasses.

"And about the memory shreds... I assume that they occur whenever you hear a key-words or you are in a familiar situation, that remembers you about an event from your past. You might find a specific word or situation that clears up everything one day! Should my theory be correct!"

A smile appeared on my face. "Thank you."

'He's right... Maybe I will regain my memory someday.'

"Do you want to see the rest of the tribe?" Sylee asked, grabbing shoulder.

I nodded and we said good-bye Nelik.

We left the infirmary and stopped in front of the entrance.

"Hmm... What should I show you first?" my friend asked herself.

The Lucario began her tour and showed me the various facilities of her tribe. Whenever we walked next to some of the other tribe members, she introduced me to them. I had a little small-talk with some of the Riolu and Lucario. They mostly asked me questions about my strange aura or why my arm was black. I answered them honestly and received confused looks when they heard the word "human". Questions about my past got answered with the excuse that Cobal would tell the reason I was here later, at dinner.

Sylee, was really nice. She told me some more things about herself and gossiped about Cobal while we walked through the clearing.

The two of them were supposed to be childhood friends before he left on a journey to get stronger.

When she had shown me the whole village, she lead me away from the clearing. After we walked along a path that lead through the forest, we came across another big clearing.

It looked like a huge training field. A couple of dummies were placed on the left side of the clearing and three battlefields were drawn onto the ground on the right one. A lot of Riolu and Lucario were scattered around the field. Some of them were working out with exercises or training on the dummies, while other ones seemed to have sparring matches.

"This is our training ground! Care for a quick sparring match?" Sylee asked, giving me a confident look. "I know that you are injured and stuff but I wou..."

"Sure! Let's do it!" I interrupted her with a grin, already walking towards a free field.

This was a great opportunity to find out if my evolution has made me stronger. I also didn't like to retreat from a challenge anyway.

The other Pokemon were giving me confused looks. I just kept up my grin and took place at one side of the field.

A group of curious fighting-types had formed on the side of the field when Sylee walked up to her spot. I could hear a little mumbling from the crowd, similar to that from the other tribe-members. However, I heard "Aura Garment" and "Brute Breed" a couple of times. I assumed that they were able to sense those aura-related things... They seemed to be interested in my special abilities.

"Just hand-to-hand combat or do you want to use moves too?" my opponent asked, warming herself up.

I had to debate about it for a moment, while I warmed up myself.

'I will start with a normal sparring before I test out my moves... I have no idea how much stronger they are, now that I'm a Lucario.'

"Hand-to hand combat!" I called over to her, getting into my battle stance.

"Alright then!" she returned, getting into her own stance, which was pretty similar to mine.

During our sparring, I tried out what my new body was capable of. I was a little surprised when I noticed that I was a lot faster than before. My punches and kicks felt stronger too.

Both of us clashed at each other with swift punches and kicks. Sylee seemed to struggle to keep up with me when I amped up the pace of my attacks. In her defense, she brought her arms up like a boxer.

It sounded like two metal bars that crashed together when my fist made contact with her lower arm.

The bones of a Lucario really were like steel.

My opponent tried to break through my assault, however, whenever she went for a counter, I simply dodged and continued my barrage of attacks.

When I managed to push her back to the edge of the battlefield, I quickly put my arm through her defense and touched her chest. I then pushed her out of the field by putting some weight against her body.

She landed on her backside, letting out a yelp of pain when her tail got squeezed between her and the ground.

The crowd cheered in response to my victory.

I walked up to her and offered her my paw. She thankfully grabbed it and I lifted her up.

"You are really fast." she complimented me, nursing her tail.

"Thanks." I replied with a warm smile.

A group of Lucario were walking up to us. I didn't know why but I was able to tell that all of them were male.

"You're pretty good! Would you have a match with me too?" one of them asked me.

"Yeah, I want to have one too!" another one exclaimed.

"Me too!" All of them were looking at me in a really strange way. I didn't quite know what it was but it made me feel a little uneasy.

Becoming a little nervous, I took a step away from them, closer to Sylee.

"Uhm... Why are they looking at me like that?" I whispered.

The Lucario had an annoyed look on her face all of a sudden. "Well, you obviously impressed those guys... I guess they are interested in you."

"Interested like in..." I turned a little red.

"Hey, you're really strong. I would be interested too!" she answered with a chuckle.

I still felt a little uneasy but decided to accept everyone's challenge. I beat them pretty easily and answered some questions about myself in between the matches. The 'being interested in me' part was right as some of them were trying to flirt with me. Well, at least I assumed that they did. I put down every single one of them, to which Sylee responded with a happy smile.

After my last challenger was defeated, Sylee and I walked to the edge of the training ground and sat down onto the ground. We watched the other Pokemon train for a while and chatted about various things.

There were no others in listening range so I decided to ask her a question I was asking myself since a very long time.

"Hey... Uhm... Sylee." I whispered, getting her attention.

She faced me and gave me a smile. "What's up?"

My face turned red and I fiddled around with my paws.

"Well, you know that I'm a human and... Uhm... Can you tell me what makes a Pokemon attractive?" I asked in a very embarrassed tone.

The Lucario blinked and seemed to be confused for a moment before she put on a smile again. "Well, in the case of a Lucario... I would say that your hips and backside are the most popular beauty signs."

"Hips and backside..." I muttered to myself. 'Is it similar to humans? Ugh... I can't even remember properly...'

A blush crept onto my face when I remembered how Grovyle checked me out before the incident at Limestone Cavern.

"And in your case, I would say that you are pretty well equipped." she complimented, making me blush even more.

"Uhm... Thanks..." My mind automatically made me lean back to look at her 'features'.

...

"Do you like what you're seeing?" Sylee asked, when she noticed, giving me a teasing grin.

I jumped a bit and rubbed the back of my head. "Sorry."

I remembered my fight with the Pancham from my first mission all of a sudden.

"Are you really sure that I'm like... Ehm... I had a fight with a Pancham that called me a tomboy..." I said, letting out a little growl after the 't-word'.

She seemed to dislike that word too.

"Well, it's completely different for each species. I mean what they prefer. Pancham and Pangoro like girls with a little more mass... I think. And you're not really the definition of fat, are you?" she explained, looking at my belly. "I guess, thin Pancham girls are seen as unattractive in the eyes of a Pancham boy... He probably compared you to one of them..."

"But he liked a friend that was with me..." My tone got a little sad. "She's a Pikachu and not the definition of fat either."

"It's just like I said before, you never know what other kinds of Pokemon like and what not." the Lucario replied. "It's mostly a question of personality, if different species go out with each other."

"Oh, okay..." For some reason I remembered Grovyle yet again.

'Does that mean that he liked...'

I shook my head and pushed those thoughts away. I had to make sure that he was okay before I could occupy my mind with things like that.

...

We kept on watching the others train for a while until I decided to test out the power of my moves.

The two of us made our way to one of the dummies.

"What moves do you have?" Sylee asked, creating some distance between her and the dummy.

"Bone Rush, Extremespeed, Aerial Ace, Force Palm and... Uhm... Attract." I answered, turning red yet again.

"Mind to show me the last one first?" she asked, laughing at me teasingly.

"Err... Maybe later." Shrugging off her awkward comment, I faced the dummy in front of me.

I put my paws together in front of me, concentrating my aura into them. After I pulled my hands outwards and created the silver shining bone between them, I noticed something strange.

It was radiating with blue aura. I had used the same effort I put into it as I had used as a Riolu, automatically overcharging the weapon in my hand.

Sylee was giving me a surprised look.

I responded with a nervous grin. "Sorry, still getting used to the whole Lucario-thing."

After I had balanced out the aura of my bone, I broke it in half, creating a baton in each of my paws.

I spun them around a bit, before I got into my basic battle stance.

Sylee gave me a little applause in response.

My eyes focused on the dummy in front of me, while I concentrated on Extremespeed.

A lot of dust stirred up around me, before I dashed behind the wooden puppet. In the blink of an eye, I was in position, ready to throw my bone at the back of the dummy's head.

The force of my blow was much stronger than I expected it to be, as the head got ripped right off the puppet with a loud cracking sound. I landed on my feet with a shocked expression, while the head was flying across the field.

I looked at the destroyed dummy with wide open eyes.

'Holy shit... I... I wasn't even using my full strength... God dammit, I really have to be careful not to overdo it. I'm a lot stronger than a Riolu now... I really need to work on my self-control...'

I grit my teeth. '... I could really hurt somebody, if I don't.'

"W-wow!" Sylee exclaimed, pulling me out of my thoughts.

The other Pokemon on the training field were giving me surprised looks.

Letting my bones disappear, I walked over to her. "Sorry! I didn't intend to do that either. Should I try to repair it or...?"

I got interrupted when the whole training ground began to cheer happily. The Riolu and Lucario ran up to me and lifted me up into the air. "Whoa, hey! What is going on?!"

The Pokemon cheered as they carried me towards the path that lead back to the village. They called out the word "Smasher" in a rythmic chant.

Sylee was one of the Pokemon that held me up into the air. The spot she chose to hold me up was a little questioning... "Smasher! Smasher!"

"What is going on?!" My question drowned under the chanting.

They carried me all the way back to the village. The sun was already about to set when we arrived.

As the sound from their cheers reached the ears of the other tribe-members, all of them joined the crowd. Pokemon rushed out of their tents and shacks, running up to us and joining into the chant.

When we reached the biggest tent, two Lucario stepped out of it.

I recognized Cobal, who was standing next to a Lucario which looked a lot older than the rest of the tribe. Its back was bent down a little and it had a walking stick in its right paw.

The chanting stopped, when the older Pokemon approached the crowd.

They let me down and cleared the path between me and the old One. I assumed that this Pokemon was the chief lf the tribe.

"Oh, it's the new one. Tell me, what is your name? Cobal hasn't mention it yet." It's voice sounded male. He had that typical 'grandpa-tone' in it.

"I'm Ri." I answered, feeling somewhat embarrassed by all the stares the others were giving me. "Uhm... Could you tell me what this whole Smasher thing is about?"

"According to the chants of our tribe members, I can assume that you managed to break one of the dummies on the training field. Well, there is an old tradition in our tribe, that says that we have to hold a feast whenever somebody manages to break one of the crystal-wood dummies." the chief explained with a smile.

"Crystal-wood?" I asked with a confused look.

"As you might know, Crystal Cave isn't very far away from our village. The wood from the trees that grow around it, is probably the sturdiest wood you will find on this continent. Strength has a great value in our community so the people who are strong enough to break them with sheer force, get the title of Smasher." he continued.

"Uhm... Okay..." I didn't quite know if I should ask more question so I just decided to go with this 'title', I unintentionally got awarded with.

The Lucario rose his voice. "Alright, everyone! Let's get to the dinning tent and prepare the Smasher-feast!"

The tribe lead me into the big tent, raising their voices again.

We entered the structure and a row of tables, that was ordered in an 'u-formation', was placed in the middle of the room. A lot of stools and chairs were placed next to them.

Cobal walked up to me and lead me to one of the chairs at the bottom of the 'u'.

"You've gotten yourself quite the reputation in only a couple of hours." he said while he pointed at the chair I was supposed to sit on.

The knight sat down at the chair to my left, right next to the older Lucario.

To my right was Sylee, giving me a warm smile. "Oh, you're going to love the food!"

Just when she said that, my stomach grumbled.

I turned a little red. "I hope so!" I said, rubbing the back of my head.

The rest of the tribe had taken place too and a group of Lucario left the tent. I assumed that they were the one's who were supposed to bring the food.

I faced Cobal again. "And? Did you talk with your leader?"

"Yes, I have. However, I will still wait until tomorrow to tell you about our decision. There are still some other things I have to discuss with the chief." he answered in a serious voice.

"Anyway, there is something else I wanted to ask you. Do you want to spend the night at my home? You know, the cave you woke up in? I will make a second bed for you if..." The fighting-type got interrupted by the Lucario to my right.

"She can spend the night with...ehm...at my tent! I already have two built up beds!" Sylee almost yelled.

"Oh, so you two have become friends very quickly..." Cobal responded with a surprised voice.

"I guess so." I replied, giving my friend a brief smile.

The Lucario was giving me a confused look all of a sudden. "Are you really okay with that? Ehm... You know tha..."

"Hey! She offered it, so I won't reject her!" I interrupted him with a smile.

"Ah, I see... If that's how you want it..." I was a little confused by the way he said that. As if he was alluding to something... Though I had no idea to what...

Looking at Sylee again, revealed that she was beaming at me with a happy smile.

After a while of small talk, the group of Lucario brought in a lot of baskets and plates which were full with berries and apples. Once they had supplied everyone with their food, they walked back to their own seats and sat down.

"Alright, everyone! Today we have an extra big meal, thanks to Ri here!" the chief announced, getting up from his chair. The whole room gave me a short applause, to which I turned a little red.

"Now you might wonder, what this new Pokemon is doing here at our tribe. As most of you know, there was a huge amount of aura released at Crystal Cave! Well, she was the source of that event!" he continued. "Now there is something special, my son would like to announce!"

The chief sat down again and Cobal got up from his chair, to which I was a little surprised.

'He is the leader's son?'

"Thank you, father!" He cleared his throat. "Most of you should already know the stories from Alteal I told you about. That means that some of you might know what I am talking about when they look at this Lucario here."

He pointed his paw towards me and continued. "There is a certain legend about a human-turned Lucario with a charred left arm. It tells of a Pokemon, strong enough to prevent catastrophes and wars... This Pokemon here fits perfectly into that description!"

Putting his arm down again, it looked like as if he was using the brief silence for a dramatic effect.

I responded by sweatdropping. 'Ugh... Just tell them already.'

"This Pokemon here, is the Spirit of Faith!" he finally finished.

The other Pokemon were looking at me with curious and surprised looks.

"She has lost her memory, so she is sadly not able to tell us anything about her past... Ri will stay with us until tomorrow. In the morning, we will announce the reason behind her presence and whether we are going to assist her on her mission or not!" Cobal continued.

'Are they going to help me? Ugh... What if they think that I'm trying to stop time with my actions?'

I pushed those thoughts away. The question would be answered tomorrow... This feast was a great opportunity to calm my mind down and relax for once in a while.

"Okay, now that all of that is out of the way... Let the feast begin!" he shouted, sitting down again.

In a matter of second, I had about ten apples on my plate.

Sylee poked my shoulder. "Are you sure that you want to eat that much?"

I responded with a grin. "Yup."

The ten fruits disappeared in no time, which resulted in surprised looks from the other Pokemon in the room.

Another ten apples wandered onto my plate. I wasn't even getting started yet. Turning into a Lucario seemed to have increased my 'eating abilities' too.

After twenty apples and a couple of berries, I was was feeling somewhat saturated. My belly wasn't even blown up.

"Where does it all go?" Sylee asked with a shocked expression.

"I have no idea!" I chuckled in response. "Maybe into my hips and my backside?"

She had to laugh to that. "Haha, that would explain a lot!"

The Pokemon around me were giving us weird looks and mumbled something to each other, when they overheard our conversation.

I turned red a bit but quickly got distracted by Cobal, who was patting me on the shoulder.

"I will see you tomorrow. Just meet me in front of the dinning tent in the morning." he said, getting up from his chair. "Good night."

"Good night." Sylee and I returned in union.

The knight and his father walked out of the tent. I assumed that they would talk about the other things, Cobal had mentioned before.

The tent was still full with Riolu and Lucario, which were chatting, eating, singing and all in all, just seemed to have a good time.

I felt somebody poke my right shoulder.

"Do you want to go outside? I think it's a little too noisy in here." Sylee asked with an expectant look on her face.

"Oh, okay." I got up from my chair and followed her out of the 'room'. The other Lucario were calling out their 'Smasher-chants' again when they noticed. Some of them were giving us confused looks for some reason.

It was nighttime and the moon was already hanging in the sky when we stepped out of the tent.

My friend lead me to the tent at which I had first seen her in the morning. "That's my tent. We could head inside right away, but there is something I would like to show you first."

"Oh, okay." I nodded and followed her to the cliff that was at the other side of the village.

We walked along the stone wall for a while until we came across a ladder that lead on top of the cliff.

The Lucario insisted on me climbing up first for some reason.

At the top, she took the lead again and brought me to a clearing near the edge of the cliff.

She sat down on the ground, indicating me to do the same.

"So, what do you want to show me?" I asked, leaning my body onto my arm which were placed on the ground behind me.

The Pokemon simply pointed her paw towards the moon.

The sight was really beautiful. Being able to watch over the village and the forest behind it. How the moonlight lit up the whole scene.

"It's beatiful." I said with an amazed voice.

"Yeah, I always come here when I feel alone or sad. The view just makes me forget about all the things that bother me... It's really something." Sylee responded with a voice that had a slight tone of nostalgia in it.

We kept on staring at this beautiful scene until I decided to look at her again. "So what now? Head back to the others or..."

The Lucario had a strange look in her eyes all of a sudden.

"I've got a better idea..." she said, touching my left paw with her right one.

I responed with a confused look until...

**Soundeffect: Shattering glass**

_"I would be interested too."_

_"And in your case, I would say that you're pretty well equipped."_

_"Do you like, what you're seeing?"_

_"Mind to show me that last one first?"_

_"Are you really okay with that? Ehm... You know tha..."_

'Oh...my...god.' My cheeks began to turn into a deep crimson.

"Whow, whow, whow! Wait!" I almost yelled, pulling my paw back. "You're into girls?!"

A face of pure shock crept onto her face. "Y-you're not?!"

"N-NO! How would you even...?" I wasn't sure how to respond to this awkward situation.

"I-I'm sorry! The way you rejected the boys at the training ground... I... I thought I had given you enough signs! You didn't seem to mind my comments, so I assumed that... Oh, dear Arceus! I'm so sorry!" She was equally startled by the situation.

'Oh my god! Did she just try to go for a kiss? How would this even...?"

A jolt of pain rushed through my head all of a sudden. Another memory.

_The image of a village entered my vision. A couple of Pokemon which I didn't recognize were around me. In front of me was a Buneary, looking at me with a devilish smirk. It had a pink ribbon around its ear, so I could tell that it was female. For some reason, my body wasn't able to move. The normal-type slowly stepped closer to me._

_"...o...watch...t...she...drain...ss!" A muffled voice called out from behind me._

_The Buneary reached me and brought her face directly in front of mine before she pressed her lips against mine..._

The vision ended and a blush crept onto my face when I found myself back in reality.

'What... the fuck?... I... Did that girl...?'

"Ri?" Sylee asked in a worried tone. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh! Y-yeah... I'm alright. Just a little headache." I said, facing her again.

'Oh my god, this is weird.'

"Are you mad at me?" the Lucario asked with a sad voice.

"No, I'm not mad... Just surprised." I answered, already trying to forget the whole situation.

"Again, I'm really sorry. It's just... I'm the only girl here that... You know... Ugh... Is it okay if we just forget about that?" she explained, breaking eye-contact.

"Hey, it's okay... Should we go back to your tent?" I asked, getting up from the floor.

"Are you sure that you wan..." She couldn't speak any further as I interrupted her.

"Of course, I am! Hey, I won't let this awkward little moment get between our friendship."

Her sad look somewhat faded and something that looked like a smile crept onto her face.

* * *

We made our way back to her tent. On the way, I still had those weird thoughts in my head. However, I was getting tired, what luckily distracted me a bit.

She opened up the tent and welcomed me in when we reached it.

It was a lot smaller than the one we ate in. Two hay-beds were on the ground and the room was furnished with a couple of closets, a table, two chairs and a couple of bowls and pots.

"This one is yours." Sylee said, pointing at the one that was closer to te entrance.

I immediately let myself fall on it and let out a yawn.

The Lucario went over to her own bed and dropped onto it as well.

An awkward silence was hanging in the air as nobody of us really knew what to say.

"Do want to talk about some other stuff or should we just get some sleep?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Sylee didn't respond. She either was already asleep or simply didn't want to talk anymore.

I let out deep sigh before I brought myself into a comfortable sleeping position.

My thought shifted over Grovyle, Riley, Ozu, the guild, that I am supposed to be some kind of spirit, the decision, Cobal was talking about and this weird memory I had after the awkward situation with Sylee.

After a while of speculating, theorizing and hoping, I finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 23**


	24. Two Knights

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**REVISION #3:**

**Usual fixes:**

Some writing mistakes, A few grammar issues

It was just a quick revision... A couple of mistakes might still be in there... Sry :'(

**Chapter 3:**

Changed Ri's memory where she remembers Extremespeed. (To the point where she trained the move instead of the race she used it in.)

**Chapter 17:**

Added some dialogue to Dusknoir's and Riley's conversation, regarding how he came to his suspicion about Ri.

And a couple more thought processes from Riley.

* * *

**Update #22:**

(Made a little mistake on my last review-reply: *Three Time Gears ^^)

Well, there's not much else to say...

Anyway... Back to the story!

* * *

**Chapter 24 - Two Knights**

* * *

"Hey, wake up!" A voice said, waking me from my sleep.

I got greeted with the face of a Lucario when I opened my eyes.

"Huh, what?" My mind wasn't able to process anything properly. Still half asleep I lifted myself into a sitting position and rubbed my eyes groggily.

"It's morning." Sylee explained, opening the entrance of her tent to let some light in.

"Oh, right... I'm supposed to meet up with Cobal..." I slowly got onto my feet and stretched myself to get the last bits of sleep out of my body.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked with a faint smile on her face.

I guessed that the awkward situation from yesterday still bugged her. When I thought about it again, it began to worry me aswell.

"It was alright."

We stepped out of her home and got greeted with the curious looks of a couple of other tribe-members. They were mumbling with each other... I could hear a chuckle from two Lucario girls.

'Oh no... Do they think that we...? How would this even...'

I shook my head and pushed the thought away.

'What the hell am I thinking?!'

A little crowd had formed in front of the dinning tent, when we arrived there.

Cobal was already waiting for me as the Pokemon cleared the path for me to walk up to him. Sylee took place in the crowd and I approached the knight.

"Morning." I greeted.

"Good morning." he returned.

The chief of the tribe came out of the tent and walked next to me and Cobal.

"Ah, Ri..." The old Pokemon faced his son. "Are you ready, Cobal?"

The Lucario nodded and took one step towards the crowd. "Alright, everyone! Ri will now announce the reason behind her presence!"

I jumped to that statement. "W-what?"

He faced me and gave me a serious look. "You are the Spirit of Faith. Tell them what you told me yesterday."

"B-but wouldn't it be better if you explained it to them? I mean... They know you and..."

Cobal interrupted me. "I know... But I want you to tell them your story."

I had to debate about it for a while before I let out a deep sigh and faced the crowd.

"Hello, everyone." I began, getting everyone's attention. "As Cobal mentioned yesterday, the Spirit of Faith only appears whenever the world is threatened by a great catastrophe... And... Today it's the same reason... We have another disaster happening right now!"

The crowd responded with worried looks.

"This land is connected to a sacred place called Temporal Tower. This tower is keeping time intact and is the home of the legendary Pokemon Dialga... Now... Should this tower be destroyed, then time around the whole planet will stop and the world will be plunged into an everlasting darkness... Now... The reason I am here, is because the structure is falling apart as we speak!"

The worried looks got joined by a couple of shocked ones.

"But there is a way to stop this crisis! Should somebody be able to collect all the five Time Gears and bring them to the tower, it can be repaired!"

A lot of mumbling could be heard among the crowd.

"Are you crazy?! You can't take a Time Gear from it's place!" one Lucario called out.

"Hasn't there been a thief that tried to steal them?" A Riolu yelled.

"How do you know that?! I thought you had lost your memory." another one asked.

Closing my eyes, I debated whether to tell them about Grovyle or not.

"I know that some of you might be scared that taking a Time Gear from it's place will mane time stop in the area around it! But believe me , it's only temporary! Once the Time Gears are brought to Temporal Tower, everything will turn normal again."

I made a short pause before I continued.

"Now from where I know all of this? Well, one of you has already mentioned that there is a thief that tried to steal the gears. The truth is... He's not a thief at all! He is a Pokemon from that dark future and tries to prevent this whole crisis!... When I met him, he told me the whole story..."

"And I believe him!" I announced with a determined look.

A little tumult formed in the crowd. Some of the fighting-type's were arguing whether to believe me or simply lock this insane Pokemon in front of them away.

Sylee just had a surprised expression on her face and stayed out of the argument behind her.

"Calm down, everyone!" Cobal raised his voice, getting everyone's attention again.

"My father and I have discussed about the risks that could come with believing her story... But we also talked about the risks that could come if we don't listen to her! If what she says is true, the whole world is in danger right know. I, as a knight of Alteal, can not ignore such a threat!"

The crowd was still mumbling, however, most of them were asking themselves what the chief's son would do next.

"This is why I have decided to join this Pokemon on her mission!" the Lucario announced in a serious voice.

"W-what?" I was completely surprised by his decision.

'He... He's going to help me!'

"The Spirit of Faith has saved the kingdom of Alteal a couple of times in the past. Now is the time to repay this Pokemon for her deeds! It is my duty as knight to help this legendary hero!"

'Legendary hero... Ugh...'

I wasn't really able to see myself as something like that. My accomplishments so far were to lie to my friends, hurt my friends and to put Grovyle into Dusknoir's hands.

'Yeah... A hero...'

The audience was completely silent after he finished his speech.

...

Cobal approached me and held his right paw out to me. "Are you okay with that?"

'Am I? I wouldn't have to travel alone if he's with me. He seems pretty strong... That means that he would be a great help, should I run into trouble... Also... He knows a lot about Alteal, the place where I'm supposed to have appeared at some points in the past... Maybe I will remember some things about my past, if he tells me something about that land... Alright. There is nothing that speaks against it.'

I grabbed his paw and gave him a smile. "Thank you."

The other Pokemon seemed to be a little worried about his decision. Sylee was just giving us a surprised look while we shook hands.

"Alright! We will prepare ourselves for the journey now. I will say good-bye right away, as we are will leave the village right after we are done!" Cobal said, letting go of my hand.

A lot of mumbling could be heard from the crowd again.

Sylee walked up to me and gave me a faint smile. "I guess it's time to say good-bye then... I... I'm still sorry for yesterday. It could've gone better if I told you right away, huh?"

"Hey, it's no problem... Maybe we will meet again after all of this is over." I replied, returning her smile.

"Yeah, maybe..." The Lucario joined the other Pokemon, which were slowly returning to their daily routines. And then... She was gone.

I faced the knight next to me again. He was giving me a somewhat confused look.

'Wait... That strange comment yesterday... Does he...? He thinks that I'm into girls! Ugh...'

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked Cobal with a slightly angry tone.

The Lucario jumped a bit. "T-tell you what? That she's..."

"Yes... Because I'm not." I clarified, anger still noticable in my tone. "That awkward moment we had when I realized wasn't very pleasant, you know?"

"I'm sorry... I thought she would tell you on her own. Ehm... Again, I'm really sorry." he apologized in an embarrassed tone.

I let out a deep sigh. "It's okay... Anyway... What kind of preparation did you mean?"

The chief opened the door to the dinning tent.

"Come, we will show you." Cobal said, following the old Lucario into the tent.

I did as told and they lead me to one of the table in the room. A couple of items were placed on it. A belt with a couple of small pouches on it, a blue scarf, similar to the one Cobal was wearing and a set of shoulder plates.

"Do you want me to wear this?" I asked, walking up to the table.

"Yes. It's a part of your disguise." Cobal returned. "This Dusknoir has probably noticed that you're gone. I guess that the town is already looking for you. That's why I came up with a disguise for you to make our job easier." the knight explained.

"Why would I need a disguise? I'm a Lucario now! The town would look for a Riolu... Also, I have this healed burn mark on my arm, so there's no way they will think that I'm the same person." I replied.

"I know but... That way, we could say that we are two knights from Alteal who are investigating something about a certain Riolu with the Aura Burst ability. It would be plausible and our questions about the incident wouldn't raise any suspicion." The knight picked up the shoulder plates and handed them to me.

I hesitate a bit before I nodded in understanding and grabbed the armor.

It took me a while before I finally managed to put on the gear properly. Binding the leather bands around my chest in the 'x-pattern' was quite difficult.

After the armor, I took the scarf and tied it around my neck, letting the remaining cloth fall down behind me like a cape. Just like Cobal was wearing his scarf.

The last piece of equipment was the belt which I quickly attached to my hip.

I was rather satisfied with my new outfit. I looked exactly like the knight next to me.

Only differences were my left arm, the sword on his belt, and a couple of bandages which were still wrapped around my arm and legs.

"Can we visit Nelik one more time before we go? I think I don't really need those anymore." I said, fiddling around with the bandage on my right arm.

"Yes, of course. We still need to supply you with another piece of equipment anyway. It's back at my cave so we can make a quick stop at the infirmary before we head there." Cobal replied.

The Lucario faced the chief. "Father... I know that you are worried about my decision too but... It's my duty to help her. I can't run away from that, now that I swore my loyalty to the royal house."

The old Lucario had a look of understanding on his face. "I know... They are your second family."

The Pokemon let out a deep sigh. "I wish you two good luck."

"Thank you." me and Cobal returned in union.

The chief approached me and put his hand onto my shoulder. "I only trust you because my son does... This legend he told us about... Not many Pokemon from Treasure have heard it. Others might not believe you like we did."

'Not many Pokemon from Treasure have heard it? I can't just explain myself with the Spirit of Faith excuse then, huh?'

I let out a mental sigh. 'I will have to lie again... Dammit.'

"Understood." I nodded.

The knight next to me gave his father one last hug before we said good-bye and left te tent.

We made our way to the infirmary and I knocked onto the door three times. After a moment, a Riolu opened the door and welcomed us in.

"Ah, hello there. Ri, was it? What can I do for you?" Nelik asked as Cobal closed the door behind us.

"Well, I just wanted to know if I still need those bandages. I don't really feel any pain." I answered, pointing at the bandage on my arm.

"Oh, alright." The Riolu instructed me to sit down on a stool and carefully unwrapped all the bandages on my body.

"Done." he said, putting the last piece of cloth into a basket that was placed on one of his tables.

"Thank you." I replied, standing up again.

"Are you two heading out now?" the Riolu with the glasses asked as he walked back to me.

"Not quite yet. There's one little stop we need to make before we leave the village." Cobal answered.

"Oh, good-bye then. Maybe we will see each other again sometime." Nelik said with a smile.

My new partner and I said good-bye too and headed out of the shack.

Cobal lead me to his home and we entered the cave.

"So what is this last piece of equipment you were talking about?" I asked, following to one of the closets in the room.

The Pokemon opened it and pulled out a sword with with a golden hilt and a couple of golden decorations running up the middle of the blade. "This here is a copy of the Sword of Alteal. It was a gift from the king for defending the kingdom against a criminal organisation. I want you to wear it."

"Do I really have to wield a sword?" I said, folding my arms. I didn't like the idea of wearing a weapon like this.

"A sword is the basic equipment for every knight of Alteal. You don't actually have to use it. It's just a part of your disguise. Also, it's a copy, so it's not sharpened or anything." he answered.

"Okay... If it's just a fake..." I hesitantly grabbed the blade and put it through a leather holster on the left side of my belt.

We headed out of his home and made our way to the exit of the village, which was left behind the dinning tent. Some of the other tribe-members were looking at us while we left the village for good.

Cobal turned around one last time and waved good-bye to them.

* * *

And with that, we began our journey to Treasure Town. On the way, I mostly admired the landscape around me. Just like I usually did.

Cobal was similar to Grovyle... Not very talkative...

After about half an hour of silence, I tried to start a conversation. "So... Can you tell me a little more about Alteal?"

"Like about what? It's history?" he asked, turning his head to me.

"I don't know... Maybe how the kingdom looks like. I might remember something if I'm supposed to have been there before." I answered.

"Well, the capital city of the continent is called Alteal aswell. A castle is built in the middle of the city. That's where the royal family and most of us knights live. The whole city is split into four districts... You have the market-district with a huge market place. Then you have the residential-district where most of the population of the city live. Then there's the colosseum-district. A huge arena and a lot of facilities to train are built there. And last but not least, you have the district of the federation. It mostly holds facilities that manage the teams and missions all around the world." he explained.

It took me a while to process all the information in my head. The picture that had formed in my head was... not familiar at all.

A sigh escaped my mouth. "Doesn't ring a bell to me... Maybe some more things about those catastrophes I saved the kingdom from will bring up some memories."

The Lucario next to me brought his paw up to his chin. "Hmm... They aren't really explained in the legend... I think the last time you showed up was two hundred years ago."

"Two hundred years?" I questioned with a surprised look.

"Yes... Ehm... I think you prevented a war with one of the other continents back then. Alteal was in the possession of some kind of relic, which the other nation wanted to have, no matter the cost. I'm not entirely sure how though. There is some talk about a battle with the leader of that other nation." he continued, putting his paw down again.

I folded my arms. "Nope... Doesn't ring a bell either. Anything else you know about me?"

"Hmm... There is something about a volcano eruption and a battle with the legendary Pokemon Yveltal." the knight answered.

"Yveltal?" The name sounded familiar but no feeling that would have hinted towards a battle with it came up. "Uhm... Those things don't sound familiar either."

"I'm sorry... There aren't many other things I remember from the books about you... But in the story about the volcano... Another name is mentioned there..." he replied. "Something about a green redeemer."

"Green redeemer?" An idea of who he could have meant rose in my mind.

"Ngh!" Just when my mind tried to make a clear thought with the idea, a jolt of pain rushed through my head.

"Are you okay?" Cobal asked with a concerned voice.

"Yes... Just a headache." The pain had already faded again. Bringing up the idea from before was impossible. "Sorry... Nothing..."

"Ehm... Anyway, is there something else you would like me to tell you about?" the Lucario asked.

"Hmm... Maybe some things about yourself. You already know my story, so I'm really curious about yours." I replied.

"Well, I was born at the tribe twenty-seven years ago. I always admired to be the strongest Pokemon of the tribe. As the son of the chief this was only natural and well... I was the strongest Riolu of the tribe. I even managed to beat some of the older Lucario... Meaning that I was even stronger than them... But everything changed on the day I fought my father for the first time." he began to explain. "I got completely demolished and after the defeat I had a new goal to reach. I wanted to beat my dad... Not matter how hard I had to train."

"When I turned fifteen, I went on a journey to hone my combat-skills. After a two week sea-travel to Alteal, I fought my way through every town, challenging the strongest Pokemon they had. I managed to defeat every single one of them until I met one of the knights from the capital city. I got completely destroyed... Again. But this knight saw some potential in me and took me with him to the castle." he continued

"And that's how you became a knight?" I combined.

"Not exactly... I became a recruit and trained there for three years. Evolved in that time too. After the training I took an exam to determine if I was worthy to be a real knight... I failed... Miserably..."

"Huh? How did you become a knight then?" I questioned.

"Well, thanks to this little thing here, I got the title in a different way." the Lucario said, pulling out a necklace from under his scarf.

It was a thin chain-band that was attached to a blue gemstone. It looked like a marble somehow. Black and red colors were mixed into the gemstone, giving the stone a mysterious look.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's my Mega-Stone." Cobal responded, fiddling around with the stone.

"Mega-Stone?" I repeated, searching my mind for any information about... I strangely found some.

'Mega-Evolution... It's... It's the power to evolve to an even higher level of strength than a Pokemon normally would be able to.'

"Wait... Does that mean that you can mega-evolve?" I questioned with an expectant voice.

"Yes, I have aquired the necessary power to do so." the Lucario replied.

"C-can you show it to me?" I asked.

The knight nodded and we stopped. After creating some distance between us both, I watched him closely as he touched the stone that hung down from his neck.

...

He closed his eyes and began to radiate blue aura around him. A lot of dust began to stir up into the air around the Pokemon when all the energy flowed into the stone. Probably ten times the amount of aura that he had poured into the stone was now streaming out again, slowly surrounding the Lucario. A sphere of white energy had formed around him, completely occupying my vision on him. I felt even more energy radiate from him when the 'shell' around him slowly began to crack. With a loud cracking noise, the white aura around him busted into pieces and slowly faded into the air.

I gasped when I saw his new form. His hands and feet were red now and the aura sensors on the back of his head had grown much longer. A couple more spikes grew out of his body. The fur on his chest had grown over his tail and a lot of black markings were running over his arms and legs.

He was still wearing his armor and equipment.

"Y-youre..." I had seen this kind of Pokemon before. "I have fought somebody like you before!"

The Mega-Lucario opened his eyes. "The Ditto of Limestone Cavern was one of the Pokemon I challenged before my sea-travel to Alteal... I gave it a quick visit after I had returned to Treasure. It copied my Mega-Form after a little rematch."

"S-so when I fought it... I actually fought you?!"

"It's not quite like that... A Ditto that copies a Mega-Form only gains a small portion of the Mega-Evolutions power. I'm a lot stronger than the copied version of me. Speaking of the Ditto... Have you heard anything about it after you beat it?"

I had left out that part of my story.

Gritting my teeth, I answered his question. "He... He's in a coma. I read a letter from the federation that stated that a cut from a leaf cause his critical status. I... I'm sorry... I think Grovyle is the cause for his current situation."

The mega-evolved Pokemon gave me a worried look. "I... I'm sad to hear that."

...

An idea formed in my head. "Hey... Uhm... Cobal."

He responded with a confused face. "What is it?"

"Can you let me try it too?" I asked with a wide grin.

The Lucario chuckled.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way... You see, this is my Mega-Stone." he explained, emphasizing on the 'my'. "Every Pokemon that is able to mega-evolve has it's own special Mega-Stone that works specifically for them."

My expectant look turned into a disappointed one. "Oh... Okay."

"The reason why I became a knight was that I got my stone when I fought one of the leaders of the criminal organisation that terrorized Alteal at that time. At first he completely overpowered me but then I had the stone all of a sudden. After I mega-evolved, I easily beat him and put him behind metal bars." Cobal carried on. "I'm one of a couple of Pokemon in Alteal that are able to mega-evolve. That's the reason why the king decided to make me a knight."

"But how did you get the stone then?" I was a little confused that he didn't mention how he got it.

"I have no idea... I remembered how I had been beaten before at that moment. Suddenly I had the stone in my hand and well... I poured my energy into the stone and focused on the reason why I even fought the criminal. To get stronger. That was always my goal. Getting stronger than my dad, the knight that took me in, the criminal... Everyone. I fought to get stronger... It was as simple as that."

"That is a pretty good reason to fight." I commented.

The Lucario began to glow in a bright, white light and slowly turned back to his original form. "What is yours?"

"Mine?" I closed my arms and folded my arms.

'Why do I fight? Hmm... I want to get stronger too... But that's not my main reason... Hmm... To protect the people that are important to me?... No... I want to do that too but that's not the main reason either... Ugh...'

Cobal had already turned back to normal and walked up to me again.

"I don't know." I said, opening my eyes.

"Oh, okay... So... Should we return to our journey? I think that little break was long enough." he replied.

"Yeah, okay."

We continued our journey to Treasure Town. Our destination was probably another couple of hours away from us... We would reach our goal in the evening.

There was this awkward silence in the air again while we walked. I admired the landscape again and Cobal seemed to do the same.

After two little breaks to eat a snack, we finally arrived at the entrance of Treasure Town. The sun was already setting and the sky had turned into an orange color.

My partner stopped me before we entered. "Wait a second... We should go over our plan again."

"Oh, right." I responded with a nod.

"First we need to decide, where we head first. We could ask around in the town a bit or go straight to the guild and investigate there." Cobal said.

"Hmm... I really want to know what happened to the guild members... We should head there straight away and ask them about the day before yesterday." I replied.

"I... I also want to see how my friends are doing..." I added in a sad tone.

"Alright... Now the next thing we need is a new name for you. Try to come up with something before we head in there." the knight carried on.

I nodded. "I think I already have one..."

"Now here is the story we are going to tell them. We are two knights from Alteal that spent some time at their tribe when we noticed the Aura Burst from Crystal Cave. Let's just say that we believe that Ri the Riolu is a part of the royal family that went missing. That way we could just ask them everything without raising any suspicion. After all we would just be worried about our missing princess."

"Did you just call me a princess?" I teased with a grin.

"Of course, I did..." the Lucario frowned. "Anyway... The real name of the current Princess is Olivia. Just remember that, should they ask us about her. I will handle most of those kind of questions anyway."

"I hope she won't be mad at me for borrowing her identity." he added with a chuckle. "So... Are you ready?"

I nodded and we made our way to the familiar crossroad. Taking the path to the right, we walked up the staircase that lead to the guild.

The front gate was closed, so we had to go through the whole identification-grid procedure.

I gulped before I stepped over the hole in the ground.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" Diglett's voice shouted.

"WHO'S FOOTPRINT IS IT?" Loudred's voice responded.

"It's a Lucario!" Diglett answered.

"A LUCARIO? EHM... OKAY! I WILL OPEN THE GATE!" Just when he said it, the gate in front of us opened.

Giving Cobal one last worried look, I head into the tent in front of me and climbed down the ladder.

On the first floor, I saw Sunflora, Bidoof and Corphish, who were having a chat. The bandages from the day before yesterday were gone. They were giving me a confused look when I stepped down from the ladder.

I waited for Cobal to follow me down and began to climb to the second floor of the guild.

The main room was filled with a couple of Pokemon. Loudred was standing next to the 'sentry hole', Croagunk was fiddling around with his cauldron again, and Chimecho just came out of the infirmary.

They seemed to be okay. No bandages could be found on them.

Chatot stepped out of the guildmasters office and approached me. I baled my paw into a fist when I saw his left wing. I hadn't noticed it at the main square... It looked as if it was broken. The limb was covered in bandages and rested in an apron that was bound around his neck.

"Oh, good evening." the flying-type greeted.

Cobal had just reached the ground and walked to my side while Loudred and Chimecho came a bit closer to us.

"Uhm... Hello." I replied in a sad tone.

"My name is Chatot, I'm am the assistant of guildmaster Wigglytuff." Chatot introduced himself. "How can I be of service?"

"My name is Faith..." I responded. "And this Cobal. We are royal knights of Alteal and came here to ask you some questions about a certain Riolu."

His look turned angry as soon as I said the word 'Riolu'. "Do you mean the timegear-thief's accomplice?"

"Well, we felt a huge amount of aura, coming from Crystal Cave the day before yesterday. One of our tribe's scouts mentioned that the source of it was a Riolu that got captured and transported towards Treasure Town with a carriage." Cobal explained.

"Can you tell us what happened to this Pokemon?" I asked before the flying-type could respond.

"Well... Her name is Ri... She was a member of our guild and... When we found out that she worked with the thief, we confronted her at Crystal Cave... She managed to beat every single one of us and... Luckily the great Dusknoir still managed to capture her and the timegear-thief Grovyle. They got transported to the main square of this town. I woke up an hour before they arrived and already waited for them at the square with the other guild members." Chatot began to explain. "Dusknoir had set up a portal that lead to the future the thief came from. After they arrived, Dusknoir's men carried them to the portal and threw them through it."

"And then?" I asked with an expectant face.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 24**

* * *

Now who could that green redeemer be? ^^


	25. Accuses and Apples

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Update #23:**

Wow! A lot of new favorites and follows in the past week!

Thanks a lot! Nice to see that you guys are interested in the stuff I'm writing! ^^

**Okay! A little more important topic:**

I need 3 OCs that are in an explorer-team, for one of the upcoming fights!

They should be a challenge for a Lucario and a Mega-Lucario...

Legendaries? Meeh... Maybe one for that it is plausible to be in a team (Keldeo,...)

If you have one or more good OCs, PM me the following list:

* * *

**Name:** ...

**Species:** ...

**Gender:** ...

**Age:** ...

**Shiny:** Yes/No

**Appearance:**

Features that differentiate your character from the normal look of his or her species. (Just leave it out if there are none.)

**Equipment: **

Clothing, Pouches, Armor, Weapons?,...

**Personality: **

A couple of sentences that describe how your character is like and how he/she would react in certain situations... (Important for the conversation before the fight.)

**Abilities and fighting-style:**

**Moves:** (They can have more than four in the SoF-universe.)

_How far can you stretch the rules of a Pokemon's moveset?_

_If there's a somewhat logical explanation behind it, you can use an illegal move for a Pokemon._  
_ Look at how I explained Aerial Ace for Ri... She uses the aura around her body to form airstreams around her and fling herself around with them._

_First, build your 4 attack moveset and then add moves that would be logical for the fighting-style you plan to give your character._

_An experienced explorer has about 7-8 moves._

**Abilities:** (They can have more than one in the SoF-universe.)

_How do abilities work in the SoF-universe?_

_ Well, let's take Own Tempo for example... A Spinda that inherited the ability uses it subconsciously... For Ri, who learned the ability, it's rather a new move than an actual ability._  
_ So you have 'Ability-abilities' and 'Move-abilities'._

_ Also, which kind Pokemon can learn what kind of abilities?_  
_ I will go with the somewhat logical explanation again._  
_ A water-type or a grass-type can't learn Flamebody for example. However, it might be possible for a fire-type like Charmander to learn it..._  
_ Iron Fist is learnable by any Pokemon that is able to... Well, punch! _  
_ It becomes an actual ability after it has been learned as it simply strenghtened the learners power of punching-moves._

_ Just think of how the abilities would work for a Pokemon that actually has the ability and see if your Pokemon could mimick it._

_An experienced explorer has about 4-5 abilities. _

**Describe how your character acts in a fight. **

(Defensive, focuses on counters, able to combine Move-1 with Move-2 for a Combo-Move,... Stuff like that...)

...

**Mega-Evolution:**

Should you give your character the ability to mega-evolve, you need to give him a main reason to fight... The thought he focuses on, before he mega-evolves.

* * *

Those fights will probably take place in chapter 28, so I'm accepting suggestion up to the point when we come to chapter 27...

If you have a character that you really want to see in a fight with Ri and Cobal... You know what to do...

More info on that in the next update...

Anyway, back to the story!

* * *

**Chapter 25 - Accuses and Apples**

* * *

There she was... The Riolu that used to be our team member... Our friend...

Dusknoir's men had just pulled her out of the carriage. Her hands were tied together behind her back and a muzzle was placed on her snout. A big open wound ran across the fighting-type's upper right arm and her whole body was covered in the cuts and bruises from our previous fight.

The crowd that had formed on the path that lead to the main square was occupying my vision when she dropped down from the prison-cart.

A huge tumult formed as the Pokemon around the criminal were throwing insults at her. I didn't even feel sorry for her. Ri had gotten herself into this situation by her own fault. The lies... Trusting the timegear-thief... All of it was her own decision.

The Sableye pulled out the next criminal. Grovyle.

The grass-type was tied up like the Riolu. He looked pretty messed up aswell. His body was littered with cuts and bruises and his face was red and swollen. The Sableye must've beaten him really good.

Two other Sableye grabbed him and began to drag him towards the square. He was taller than the Riolu so my view on him was not completely occupied.

I took a quick glance to my right. Ozu was standing next to me, giving me a sad look.

Right next to him were Chatot and the guildmaster, both covered in bandages from our fight with the former guild member.

Behind them was a blue portal that Dusknoir had set up. A portal to the future... The future I came from... The future where I was a criminal. I didn't even want to inspect it further. That part of my live was over for me.

Next to the passage was Dusknoir, having a faint smile on his face. The ghost-type gave me an ice-cold glance when he noticed my stare, making me jump a bit.

The quick movement sent a wave of pain through my bandage-covered stomach...

The Riolu had caused a couple of inner bleeding with her consequent Force Palm attacks. Luckily, Chimecho was the one that had woken up before everyone else and immediately treated everyone's wounds back at Crystal Cave.

The thought about Ri drew my attention back to the event that was happening in front of me.

Ri and the two dark-type's that dragged her had arrived the square. Her eyes widened when she noticed us. When her gaze was about to meet mine, she quickly let her head sink down to the ground.

'Hmpf... You don't even dare to look at me?'

I watched her closely as the Sableye had finally reached their designate spot, right in front of the portal.

When the other criminal was set up too, Dusknoir floated into the middle of the square and spoke up.

"I can proudly announce that we managed to capture the timegear-thief Grovyle and his accomplice!"

The crowd responded with mumbles and applause.

...

When the voice of the other Pokemon had calmed down again, he continued.

"We will bring them back to our time and give them their proper punishment, based on the heaviness of their crimes!"

The ghost-type them looked at the two Sableye who were holding Ri, indicating them to throw her into the portal.

The dark-type's did as told and waited for Dusknoir's final command, already holding the Riolu up by her arms. A loud whimper escaped the fighting-type's mouth... That wound on her must've caused her trouble.

"Do it." Dusknoir ordered.

Ri let out one last grunt before the Sableye pushed her into the portal. As she made contact with the passageway, her body began to shine in a bright green light.

Ri's feet were the last things I saw of her, before the portal had completely swallowed the fighting-type.

That was it... She was gone... This so called 'friend' got what she deserved. I had no idea what the Pokemon of the future would do to her. Lock her up? Kill her? Heck, I didn't even care about it...

Dusknoir looked at the other two Sableye. They immediately followed his order and dragged the grass-type they were holding to the portal.

"Go." Dusknoir ordered again.

Just like the criminal before him, he grunted when the dark-type's pushed him through the portal.

The crowd cheered in response... After all, the Pokemon that tried to destroy the world, had just been dealt with.

A faint smile appeared on my face.

'It's over... I can live my new live with Ozu now... Help him to fulfill his dream of becoming a real explorer... Maybe... Maybe I could even tell him...'

Dusknoir spoke up again, interrupting my thought. "Everyone! Please calm down! We still have another problem that has to be dealt with."

I felt a little uneasy when he said those words... 'Another problem? Does he...?'

Shaking my head, I pushed the thought away. He couldn't possibly have meant me... We had a deal.

The crowd calmed down again, waiting for the Dusknoir to explain the problem he just mentioned.

"I am sorry to say this but... The crisis, the thief has caused is not over yet."

'What?!'

The other Pokemon responded with confused and shocked looks.

"Only three Time Gears were in Grovyle's possession... The one from Treeshroud Forest is missing!... He or his accomplice must have hidden it somewhere!... But do not worry, we have our ways to get the information out of them." the ghost-type explained in a serious voice.

'They have their ways? Does that... Does that mean that they are going to torture them?!... Ri... Is that really something she deserves?... Ugh...'

Dusknoir looked at Policemaster Magnezone, who was floating on the opposite side of the crowd.

The electric-type 'nodded' when he noticed the ghost's stare and floated next to him.

"I put the task on you to bring the three Time Gears we already have, back to their original places and protect them with everything you have!" Dusknoir said in a serious voice. "Nobody must even get near them... I will send one of my men back to this time, once we got the information about the last Time Gear out of the thieves... After that you need to find the last gear and bring it back to Treeshroud Forest."

"BZZT! Understood! BZZT!" Magnezone replied.

"Once the Time Gears are back in their place, they are going to need some time to return everything to normal... I would say... About a month... Have your strongest Pokemon protect them during that time." Dusknoir finished.

"BZZT! I already have a couple of teams in mind. BZZT! Don't worry Dusknoir, nobody is going to get near the gears. BZZT!" the electric-type assured.

"Thank you, Policemaster."

Magnezone slowly floated back to his previous spot and the Sableye that had thrown Ri and Grovyle into the portal walked next to the ghost-type.

"Now before I say good-bye, there is one last thing I need to take care of." Dusknoir turned his head towards my direction.

"Riley, Ozu..." he said in a monotone voice. The noise from the crowd died down immediately and their eyes locked onto us.

I tensed up and looked at my partner who's wide open eyes were fixed on the ghost-type.

"W-what do you think he wants?" Ozu whispered with a worried voice.

"I don't know... Maybe he just wants to thank us for helping him with his plan." I replied, hesitantly starting to walk up to Dusknoir.

The Chimchar and I approached the ghost and his four men.

A circle of Pokemon was around us, as we were now standing right at the middle of the square.

...

"Restrain them." the ghost-type in front of said.

Just then, the dark-type's next to him melted into the ground and transformed into pitch black shadows.

Before me or Ozu could even react, the shadows had already dashed behind us. The Sableye shot out from the ground and grabbed onto our arms.

"What?! No!" I screamed, trying to free me from their grab.

I wanted to send a Thunderbolt through their bodies, however as soon as I tried to release the bolts from my cheek-pouches, I felt all of my energy leave my body.

A blue chain made of spiritual flames had formed around my chest in an 'x-pattern'. A lock could be seen on the spot they crossed. Imprison.

(Restricts the victim from using any move at all in the SoF-universe.)

The crowd around us inhaled out of shock. A tumult formed when the Pokemon yelled at Dusknoir, asking him what he was doing. Our fellow guild members were completely speechless by Dusknoirs action.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled at the ghost-type in front of me.

He had an emotionless expression on his face. It seemed as if he was waiting for the crowd to calm down again.

I looked at Ozu.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!" he shouted, struggling against the two dark-type's who were holding him. They had used Imprison on him aswell. The Chimchar also had the blue chains around his chest.

"Calm down, please! There is a reason for this!" the ghost-type shouted, somewhat calming down the Pokemon around us.

"We had a deal!" I screamed at the top of my lungs with a voice that was filled with anger.

"I am aware of that... However, I can not risk to endanger the Pokemon of this time by leaving them with a possible time-bomb!" the ghost-type replied in a serious voice.

"I'm supposed to be a time-bomb?! What are you talking about?" I yelled.

He ignored me and turned to the other Pokemon. "Pokemon of Treasure Town! When Grovyle came back to this time, he had a partner with him! This Pikachu here is said partner!"

Another tumult rose up. The other guild members seemed as if they didn't quite know how to react... They already knew, who I used to be...

"I thought the Riolu was his accomplice!"

"Why would Riley have something to do with this?!"

"Explain yourself!"

Dusknoir rose his arms, indicating the other Pokemon to calm down again. "Please! Calm down! I'm going to explain everything to you! The Riou that we just arrested was not his original partner... The thief managed to persuade her to help her with his scheme. Even though we informed Ri about the consequences of her actions, she still insisted on helping Grovyle."

"Why do you want to arrest me then?!" I interrupted the ghost-type. "I helped you to capture them!"

Dusknoir faced me again. "What if you regain your memories and decide to finish the mission you started? Am I supposed to leave the Pokemon of this time with a danger like this?"

"I... I wouldn't do it! Even if I regained my memories, I would never consider to destroy the world! I have something to live for in this time!" I returned in a desperate voice.

"That's right! And even if she would want to finish her mission, I would try to stop her!" Ozu threw in.

"Like you tried to stop Ri?" Dusknoir's question sent a face of shock onto the Chimchar's face.

I was a little confused by Ozu's reaction.

"Just go! Go and warn your friend Grovyle!" the ghost-type continued. "Weren't that the words you tried to stop her with?"

My partner let his head sink to the ground, biting his lip.

"W-what?" I asked, trying to process what I had just heard.

"This act of sympathy towards the thief's accomplice has made you an accomplice yourself. If I hadn't been there in time, she would've warned the thief and they could have succeeded with their plan... I am sorry but your actions turned you into a threat to the Pokemon of this time." Dusknoir continued.

The other Pokemon around us were speechless.

The Chimchar rose his head again and looked into my eyes.

"Is... Is that true? Did you really want to let her go?" I asked with a shaky voice.

"I... I'm sorry... I couldn't do it. I couldn't fight her." he replied, letting his head sink down again.

"Why would he help them?" a Pokemon from the crowd asked.

"Ozu, out of all people!" another one added.

"I don't even care, just lock them away if it ends this crisis!" yet another Pokemon yelled.

Gritting my teeth, I focused my eyes on Dusknoir again. "So you never intended to let me go in the first place! You just used me!"

"I am sorry... But I did it for the well being of the Pokemon around you..." he replied. "Sableye... Take them away."

"Let go of me!" I screamed when the dark-type's who were holding me began to drag me towards the portal in front of us.

Ozu didn't even try to resist when the Sableye pushed him forward.

There was no use. When we reached the portal, the Sableye lifted me and my partner up on our arms and threw us into the passageway to the future.

Everything became white and began to spin when I touched it. My head started to hurt like hell and a dizzy feeling overcame me.

"Aaaah!" I screamed when a searing pain all over my body joined the dizziness.

...

The pain left as fast as it came and the spinning stopped. However, the next thing I was able to feel was my face making a rough contact with the ground. I grunted and immediately rolled to my side, grabbing my aching nose with my paws.

I could hear another grunt next to me.

Before I could even open my eyes, two hands grabbed onto my arms and lifted me up from the floor.

A blurry image of a group of Sableye entered my vision. Suddenly, I felt how a strange smelling piece of cloth was held against my mouth and nose. I inhaled the fumes and immediately noticed how the edges of my vision began to turn black.

'No... What are they...? Why can't I...?'

I tried to keep my eyes open and break free from the arms that were holding me. However shortly after they fell shut from the effect of the fumes, I lost consciousness.

* * *

"H-he took them to the future?" I asked with a shocked expression on my face.

"Yes..." Chatot replied, giving me a confused look when he noticed my reaction.

"Excuse me? Why are you so shocked about this? I thought you came here to get some information on the Riolu?" the flying-type in front of me asked with a confused look.

"I... I..." I cleared my throat and tried to focus again. "I'm sorry. Please, continue."

"Well... After they were gone, Dusknoir was just about to say good-bye to and leave our time. However, a Sableye suddenly jumped out of the portal and yelled that the Riolu was gone. The dark-type explained that the Riolu simply didn't arrive at the other end of the portal. Dusknoir became a bit furious to that and walked in and out of the portal a couple of times."

"Wait... Do you mean that Ri is missing right now?" Cobal threw in with a very well acted, worried voice.

"Yes... The great Dusknoir explained that she probably was sent to another time than the other prisoners or got stuck in the portal somehow. He stated to be very careful from now on. After that, he left." Chatot answered.

"So you have no idea where she could be." the knight next to me concluded.

"Ri could have been sent anywhere in the future. Even only a couple of days. That's why the federation has created a wanted-poster of her... We have one of them pinned onto the outlaw-board on the first floor, if you want to see it." the flying-type continued.

"Oh... What do you say, Faith? Should we take a look at this poster?" Cobal asked.

I nodded and Chatot walked up to the ladder that lead to the floor above us. Normally that flying-type would have been able to simply fly through the hole above him, however, now that his wing was broken, he had to climb up with his feet.

It took him a while and when Chatot finally reached his goal, Cobal and I quickly followed.

Chatot lead us to the bill-board and pointed at a wanted-poster, which was hanging in the middle of the board.

I approached the piece of paper and inspected 'my' poster.

A little sketch of a Riolu with slightly longer hair between its ears that fell onto its forehead was drawn onto the paper.

Underneath the drawing, I was able to read a couple of sentences.

_**Wanted: Ri the Riolu**_

_In the recent events at the main square of Treasure Town, this Riolu was able to escape from arrest somehow. She was one of the Pokemon that tried to destroy the world by stealing the Time Gears. If you have and clues on her location, inform Policemaster Magnezone immediately!_

_Should you find an opportunity to arrest the criminal yourself, do not hesitate to knock her out. _

_Beware thought: This Pokemon is extremely dangerous and managed to defeat the whole Wigglytuff guild, including Wigglytuff himself. This is why this Riolu is marked as a S-Rank outlaw._

_Reward for capturing this outlaw: 10000 Poke_

"10000 Poke?!" I blurted out with wide open eyes. Being a criminal wasn't something to be happy about but being worth that much money made a bit proud.

'S-Rank criminal... I guess that's the highest rank there is... Ugh... Should I be proud of this?... Being marked as such a strong Pokemon...'

"Can we take the poster with us? Just so we have a proper picture of her." Cobal asked, walking next to me.

"Oh... Well, of course!" Chatot replied, grabbing the poster with his healthy wing.

The flying-type blinked and let his eyes sway back and forth between it and my face when he held the poster out to me.

A bit of sweat was forming on my forehead.

"Thank you." I said, pulling the paper out of his hand.

Shaking his head, Chatot turned his attention to Sunflora, Bidoof and Corphish, who were just approaching us.

"Hello, there." they greeted.

"Hello." Cobal and I returned.

Bidoof took one step forward. He seemed to be very nervous for some reason. "A-are you two real knights?"

I let Cobal answer the question. "Yes, we are. How can we help you?"

"Oh boy... I... It's just that I have never seen a knight before... H-how is it like?" he asked.

"Well... It's a great honor to have a title like this. You mostly go on special mission for your king and train to protect your kingdom in times of danger." the Lucario next to me answered with a smile.

I simply nodded when Cobal finished his sentence.

"Bidoof... Please don't pester out guests like that..." Chatot said, drawing our attention towards him again. "Is there some other way I can help you with..."

"Uhm... No, that was it. You answered everything we wanted to know." I replied.

"CHATOT!" Wigglytuff's voice yelled from the ladder to our right.

Everyone jumped to the sudden uproar and turned to the source of the voice.

"We have guests and you don't even wake me up?!" Wigglytuff asked, approaching Cobal and me. His stomach was still covered in bandages.

"I am sorry, guildmaster... But you ordered me not to disturb you during your afternoon nap." The flying-type sighed.

"Hello, friends! Nice to meet you!" the fairy-type said, grabbing Cobal's hand and shaking it so fast that the image became blurry.

The Lucario responded with a nervous grin. "Nice to meet you too... I'm Cobal."

Wigglytuff let go of his and focused his eyes on his next goal... Me.

He grabbed my hand too. Unlike with my new partner, he went for a gentle handshake.

A strange grin appeared on his face when our eyes met.

"I-I'm Faith." I said with a nervous voice.

The fairy-type stopped to shake my hand, however, he let not go of it. "Nice to meet you, Faith... Hey! Can I ask you a quick questions?"

"Okay..." I was starting to feel uneasy.

"Do you like Perfect Apples?"

My eyes widened. For everyone else, this might just have sounded like one of Wigglytuff's random crazes but I knew exactly why he would ask a question like that. It was the same first question he had asked me when I first met him. And this silly grin he was giving me... Exactly the same.

'He knows...'

Wigglytuff let go of my paw, eagerly awaiting my answer.

'But why doesn't he tell the others? Because I managed to beat him? Ugh, I will never understand him...'

A smirk appeared on my face.

"Uhm... I like them?" I replied in the exact same tone, I had used the first time I answered that question.

The fairy-type giggled, understanding the message I was sending with my answer. I knew, that he knew...

The other guild members and Cobal were giving us confused looks.

"Great! Great! Great!" the pink Pokemon cheered in response. "Are you two going to eat dinner with us?"

"Ehm... Thank you for the offer but..." Cobal tried to say, but I interrupted him.

"Sure! We would love to eat dinner with you." I said with a smile.

"Hurray!" Wigglytuff threw his arms up into the air and turned around to head toward the ladder.

"Chimecho! Prepare dinner!" he yelled into the hole in the ground before he jumped onto the ladder.

"Ehm... Is your guildmaster always like that?" Cobal asked with a confused look on his face.

"I'm afraid so..." Chatot sighed, slowly following the fairy-type.

I chuckled and put the poster I was still holding in my hand into one of the pouches on my belt.

We followed Wigglytuff down to the main room and walked into the dinning hall.

I waited for the others to sit down, before I lead Cobal to the free seats that were left. The ones my friends and I always used to sit on.

On the opposite side of the table were Loudred, Suflora, Corphish, Diglett and Dugtrio.

To my left were Cobal, Bidoof and Croagunk.

Chimecho was preparing a couple of plates with apples and berries.

Chatot and Wigglytuff were sitting at the end of the table.

A lot of mumbles could be heard while Chimecho was setting up the table. After the psychic-type was finished, she floated over to her own seat and let Chatot begin with his usual speech.

"Alright, everyone! These two knights from Alteal will join us at dinner today... They came here to investigate some things about the Riolu that recently left our guild... Treat them with respect! It is a great honor to have guests like them! So... Without further ado... Enjoy your meals." he said, sitting down onto his chair again.

Out of habit, I immediately had ten apples on my plate, which resulted in confused looks from the other Pokemon.

Noticing my suspicious behavior, I began to eat them slowly... Unlike I usually did.

One look stood out though... Loudred... The normal-type eying me keenly while bit into my meal.

When I was finished with my fist fruit, he already had eaten three...

An urge to dig into my plate rose up in my stomach... Different from the hunger I had.

'Ugh... I can't act like I usually do... But... It's so tempting!'

Loudred was giving me a challenging smirk when I grabbed the second apple on my plate.

'Dammit.'

The temptation of his challenge was just to big. In a matter of second, the apple in my paw disappeared and the next one wandered into my other paw.

The normal-type jumped a bit when he grabbed for his fifth fruit. I had already caught up with him and was just about to go for my sixth one.

And then it began... Again. Our competition went like it usually did, however, the other guild members were giving me confused looks instead of cheering.

Loudred fell from his chair when he tried to reach out for eighteenth fruit. A wide grin crept onto my face. I had already consumed twenty-one of the red fruits.

"Oh my gosh! S-she beat him!" Sunflora exclaimed with a surprised look, grabbing the normal-type with her leaves

"Hey, hey, hey! Only Ri managed to do that before!" Corphish said, helping the grass-type to raise my opponent from the floor. "Who are you?"

Sweat was forming on my forehead and a nervous smile appeared on my face. My attention was focused on the Pokemon on the other side of the table. Because of that, I didn't quite notice the conversation, Cobal and Chatot were having.

"Uhm... I..." I stuttered, trying to come up with an answer.

"Oof... You remember me a lot about her." Loudred said, standing on his feet again. "You eat just like her!"

"Hey, hey! She even looks a bit like Ri, doesn't she?" the water-type next to him added.

'Dammit!'

"Oh my gosh! Are you..." Sunflora began to ask, inspecting me closely.

'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'

"...her sister or something like that? Is that why you are looking for her?"

I let out a mental sigh of relief, however, my nervous smile stayed as an reaction to her question.

'Did... Did Dusknoir not tell them that I'm a human?'

"Y-yes. I'm her older sister." I answered.

Just then we heard Cobal answer to one of Chatot's questions.

"We believe that Ri actually is Princess Olivia, who went missing a couple of months ago."

Sunflora, Corphish and Loudred had shocked looks on their faces all of a sudden. A similar look appeared on mine.

"OH MY GOSH!" Sunflora almost screamed.

The other Pokemon's attention was drawn to the end of the table we were sitting at.

"Y-you're a princess?" she asked with a wide open mouth.

More sweat formed on my head, as I turned to Cobal who was giving me a confused look.

Everyone's eyes were focused on me.

"Oh, boy! Is that why you are wearing such a fancy sword?" Bidoof asked.

"I... Uhm..." I had no idea what to say.

"I will explain this if you don't mind." Cobal said, clearing his throat. "This here is Princess Faith. She disguised herself as a knight to hide herself from enemies of our nation. The reason she is here is because she insisted on looking for her younger sister, Princess Olivia, who went missing a couple of months ago..."

The other Pokemon didn't know how to respond to this. As soon the Lucario confirmed that I 'was' a princess, everyone's eyes locked on me again. Wigglytuff only chuckled when I looked at him.

"It is of highest importance that you keep this to yourself... Same with the fact that we believe that Ri is Princess Olivia... Should any of our enemies learn about our princesses disappearance, our kingdom might fall into great danger. We need to find her before that happens..."

"I..." Chatot was the first one that tried to speak again.

"We are very thankful for your hospitality but I think that we should leave now." Cobal interrupted him, getting up from his chair.

The fighting-type then looked at me again, indicating me to do the same.

I got up and walked up to Cobal.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Wait a second! Do you two have a place to stay the night?" Wigglytuff jumped up all of a sudden. "It's already getting late and we would be honored to have such a noble guest stay with us a little longer."

Cobal seemed to tense up a bit... "We are grateful for you offer but..."

"We don't have a place to stay the night yet..." I interrupted him, poking him with my elbow. "We accept your offer!"

Thw Lucario next to me gave me yet another confused look. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" I replied, giving Wigglytuff a grin. "I'm a little tired and don't really feel like looking for an inn."

"Hurray!" the fairy-type cheered. "Chatot! Bring them to their room!"

The flying-type responded with a worried expression. "B-but guildmaster... The only room that is free is..."

"I know!" Wigglytuff interrupted him. "Go, go, go!"

Chatot got up from his chair and we approached him. "Follow me, then."

We did as told and followed the flying-type out of the dinning hall.

When I turned around, I noticed that the other guild members were still staring at me with wide open eyes. Not a single one of them said a word. I assumed that didn't know how to handle the whole 'there's a princess at our guild-situation'.

Before we left the room for good, I turned towards Wigglytuff again. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff... Is it okay if I could talk with you in private before I head to our room?"

The fairy-type responded with a smile. "Of course, friend! Let's go to my office."

He came with us to the main room and stopped Chatot before he passed by his office. "Chatot, would you lead this noble knight to his room while the princess and I have our little talk?"

"Are you sure that I can leave you alone with him?" Cobal asked with a worried voice.

"Don't worry. I just want to talk with him really quick." I replied, following Wigglytuff, who had just opened the door to his room.

"Alright... I will see you later..." the knight returned, turning to Chatot again.

"I will see you later,...?" I repeated, giving him a mischievous grin.

The Lucario frowned. "Princess..."

"Okay, then..." the flying-type said, walking towards the sleeping charters.

I stepped into the office and closed the door behind me. Wigglytuff was standing in front of his desk, giving me a wide grin. An awkward silence was hanging in the room until Wigglytuff finally broke the ice.

...

"Well, hello there, Spirit of Faith."

* * *

**End of Chapter - 25**

* * *

**You didn't forget the important topic in the update-section... Right?**

On the next Chapter:

"S-she's not... You?!"

"We're going to collect the Time Gears again."

"Fogbound Lake..."


	26. Reunions

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Update #24:**

Alright! Here's the current situation on the whole OC search:

FlameUser64 has sent in two detailed, two very detailed, two very,very detailed submissions.

Celsius the Kirlia and Corrine the Eevee.

The way he used the increased amount of usable moves and abilities to make them an actual threat for Ri and Cobal is simply astounding!

And so many details about their battle-strategy... Wow.

That brought them a fixed place in the team.

I still haven't decided on the final member, so feel free to send in more characters!

Hmm... I might use the others in other chapters than the fight... We will see...

Okay! Now that that's out of the way... Back to the story!

* * *

**Chapter 26 - Reunions  
**

* * *

**BGM: Cave - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Extended)  
**

My head hurt like it was about to explode and everything around me was spinning when I regained my consciousness again.

I opened my eyes. A blurry image of my lower body and stone floor underneath it entered my vision.

My eyes slowly adjusted themselves and the rest of my senses slowly returned too.

I was somewhere in a room that looked like a prison-cell... To my left and my right were gray brick walls and in front of me were metal bars, giving me vision on the hallway that lead to my cell.

I was sitting one the ground and my arms were held up into the air by something.

'What the...? Where...'

My awareness came back to me and I was finally able to think properly again. I couldn't move my hands in the way I wanted, so the obvious action to do was to inspect what was holding them back.

I looked up above me. Metal chains were attached to two shackles which were put onto my wrists, holding them up into the air.

I got onto my shaky feet and pulled on my bindings, trying to pull the chains from their anchoring. My attempt only made me hurt myself... It didn't move an inch.

When I turned my head to inspect the anchoring, I gasped.

A Grovyle was chained onto the wall, to my right, just like I was. The grass-type seemed to be unconscious. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

I didn't know what to do.

'It's... It's him! The thief...'

I looked to my left. Ozu was also chained up and unconscious. I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that my partner was okay.

"Ozu! Wake up!" I called over to the Chimchar.

A small flame began to flicker on his backside, indicating that he was slowly waking up again.

"Ozu!" I said again. "Please!"

"Huh, what?" the fire-type asked, regaining the awareness of his surroundings.

He panicked a little when he noticed the bindings on his wrists.

"W-what's going on?" he asked, trying to free himself from the shackles.

"We're in the future." I replied, drawing his attention towards me.

His worried face lightened up a bit when he saw me. "Riley! Thank Arceus, you're here!"

Looking at me made him notice the unconscious grass-type to my right. "I-is that...?"

"Yes... Should we try to wake him up?" I asked with a worried voice.

"I don't know..." The Chimchar scanned the room all of a sudden. "Wait... Where's Ri? She should be here too."

"Y-you're right!" I did the same, scanning the room for a Riolu... She was nowhere to be seen. The three of us were the only Pokemon around.

"Maybe she's in another cell..." he said, looking at me again.

"Or maybe Dusknoir is trying to get the location of the missing Time Gear out of her right now." I had to gulp to that. If what I just said was true, Dusknoir and his men would be torturing the Riolu right now... Or do even worse things to her...

"Do you think that they are torturing her?!" Ozu was a little shocked by my presumption.

"I don't know... We need to get out of here somehow. Can you get out of those shackles somehow?" I replied.

He rose his head and looked at the chains that were attached to an anchoring above him.

"I could try to melt them..." he said, taking a deep breath. The fire-type then spit out an Ember attack, aiming for the chains... He kept on spitting the small flames at them until he was completely out of breath. A couple of black marks were on some of the chain links but other than that, his attempts had no effect. We wasn't able to focus his flames onto one spot, meaning that not enough heat was created to melt the metal.

"It doesn't work..." he panted, looking at me again.

"Ugh... We need to find another way... Catch your breath while I try to come up with something." I responded, noticing his exhaustion.

I then looked around the cell again... The only visible way out was through a metal door that was build into the metal bars in front of us. It was probably locked and if Ozu didn't manage to burn through the chains that were holding him, he also wouldn't be able to melt the bars in front of us.

I jumped a bit when I heard a grunt from my right. My eyes focused on the Grovyle next to me. He was moving and probably about to wake up.

"He's waking up!" I said, tensing up a bit.

"Ngh... Wha..." the grass-type said weakly.

Grovyle opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times before he rose his head and looked around in the room he was in.

The grass-type had a confused expression on his face when he noticed us.

"Wh..." Grovyle coughed before he could continue. "Why are you two here? Aren't you two Riley's friends from the guild? Where is she?"

I looked at Ozu, who was giving me a questioning look. Neither of knew if we should respond or not. I faced the grass-type again and looked into his golden eyes. I hesitated a bit before I opened my mouth...

My goal right now was to get Ozu and me out of this prison and somehow get back to the past... I didn't like the idea that was forming in my head, but I had no other options.

Maybe my old 'partner' would help us if he knew who I really was...

"I'm here." I answered.

He blinked in response. It seemed like he tried to understand what I was trying to say for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"I'm Riley. The real one. The Riolu that you thought to be me was another human with amnesia." I clarified.

"W-what...?" His eyes widened. The grass-type looked like he wasn't really able to process what I had just said. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm the real Riley... I woke up a couple of weeks ago as a Pikachu, with no memory what so ever... Except for my name and that I used to be human. I also have the Dimensional Scream, if the first things didn't persuade you." I explained.

Grovyle was speechless for a moment. "Y-you're... Riley?"

"But that would mean..." A shocked expression wandered onto his face. "S-she's not... You?!"

He broke eye-contact and let his head sink towards the ground. Grovyle was just sitting there with a wide open mouth, trying to take in the revelation.

"Oh no..." The grass-type gave me a quick glance and turned red a bit for some reason, resulting in confused looks from me and my partner.

It took him a while to swallow the new situation but after the grass-type calmed down again, he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry..." he said, facing me again. "I guess I just really wanted you to be okay... and alive."

His concern threw me off a bit. "Alive?"

"We got attacked while we traveled back in time... I was really worried that you didn't make it at first." the grass-type explained with a faint smile. "And when... Ehm... 'She' told me that she was a human, I immediately hung onto the idea that she was you."

The way he cared for his partner perplexed me. The Grovyle in front of me tried to destroy the world... But he actually sounded... Nice.

Something that was bugging me for a while now came to my mind. And another question came with it.

"Why?"

He responded with a confused look. "Why, what?"

"Why do you want to destroy the world? Why did we want to destroy the world?" I asked in a sad voice, emphasizing on the 'we'.

"Destroy the world? Did Dusknoir put that into your head?" the grass-type asked with a confused look.

"Put that into my head? You tricked Ri into thinking that you are trying to save the world!" I replied with a little anger.

"But we are trying to save the world. When Temporal Tower falls, time around the whole world will stop. We can prevent it by bringing the Time..."

"Are you trying to trick us too?" I interrupted him. "I already know about the lie you told Celebi!"

"Lie I told Celebi?" A confused look wandered onto his face.

"Dusknoir said that you traveled back in time by tricking the legendary Pokemon Celebi. He said that you told her that you are trying to save the world by bringing the five Time Gears to Temporal Tower." Ozu explained.

The Grovyle closed his eyes for a moment, processing the lie he supposedly told.

"Have you ever thought twice about that statement?" he asked, opening his eyes again.

"Huh?" me and Ozu responded in union.

"Okay... Let's assume that time flows normally in the future you are in right now... How would Celebi believe us that we are trying to prevent the planet's paralysis if it never happened?" he explained.

He was right... Dusknoir's explanation had a flaw... I had been too shocked when he revealed my past to me, to actually think further about it.

"T-that makes sense!" the fire-type to my left replied.

"Look around you! Do you see any color? Do you hear anything, other than our voices?"

The three of us stayed silent while me and Ozu inspected our surrounding a little closer. Other than our bodies, everything was in black and white. The brick walls around us had little bits of moss growing on them... However, they were grey too.

...

Dead silence... The only thing I was able to hear was our breathing. It was so silent that I even managed to listen to my own heartbeat.

"So what?" I didn't know what he was trying to tell us.

"Time has stopped. Temporal Tower has fallen. That's why we are tying to collect the Time Gears and bring them to the tower in the past! The energy that is stored in those gears can restore the damage and return everything back to normal."

"But if you take a Time Gear from its place, time stops in that area!" Ozu threw in.

"I know... But it's only temporary. Once the tower is restored, time will begin to flow again in those areas...The gears have to take their energy from somewhere, don't they?"

"But..." He was beating me with simple logic. It tried to deny him one last time but the grass-type interrupted me.

"But what? Riley, please. Wouldn't you rather be somebody that tried to save the world than somebody who tried to destroy it?" he asked with a pressing tone.

"I..." I couldn't respond for a while.

Ri had asked me the same question before.

...

'I want to be a person that tried to save the world... But if Grovyle is telling us the truth right now...'

Gritting my teeth, I felt a lot anger well up inside of me.

'Dusknoir... This bastard lied to me ever since he knew who I was...'

"Riley... You wouldn't be a criminal... You would be a hero!" Ozu beamed.

"If we two really are supposed to be heroes, then why is Dusknoir trying to stop us?" I asked the Grovyle next to me.

Grovyle hesitated a moment before he answered. "Ehm... It's not him... It's his master that tries to stop us. Primal Dialga."

"Primal Dialga?" Ozu asked with a confused tone. "Isn't Dialga the Pokemon that controls time?"

"Yes... But here in the future, it's called Primal Dialga. The original Dialga from the past had a deep connection with Temporal Tower, the place that keeps time itself intact. When the tower began to crumble, Dialga slowly turned mad... It slowly became a feral beast who's only goal is chaos and destruction. And after the tower fell and time stopped... Well, Dialga completely changed and became a being of darkness..." he explained.

"T-that's why he's trying to stop you? Because some evil god ordered him to?" I asked.

"Primal Dialga is no ordinary Pokemon... The darkness inside of it has given it unbelievable power... Everybody that tries to defy it gets killed." the grass-type continued.

Ozu gulped. "Is it really that powerful?"

"Yes... That's another reason why we need to prevent the planet's paralysis... To stop this monster." Grovyle answered in a serious tone.

"Riley..." Ozu said, drawing my attention to him.

The Chimchar was giving me a serious look. "I think we should believe him."

I broke eye-contact with the fire-type and went over everything Grovyle had said again.

...

"Okay... If Ozu thinks that we can trust you..." I said, turning around to the Grovyle again. "Then I will believe you."

"Great to have you back..." the grass-type replied with smile before his look turned serious again. "But this isn't the time to celebrate a happy reunion. We need to get out of here... And find... What did you call her again? Ri?"

My expression turned a bit grim when I thought about the Riolu again. She might have tried to save the world but the way she did it was just wrong. But somehow I felt sorry for her... We had to save her.

"Do you have an idea how we can get out of here?" Ozu asked our new partner.

"I assume that you already tried to burn through your chains..." Grovyle replied, looking at Ozu's bindings.

The Chimchar nodded with a sad look. "Can you get out of your shackles somehow?"

The grass-type sighed in response. "No... I think we're stuck here for now..."

A smirk appeared on his face all of a sudden. "But I already have a plan on how to get out of here."

"Really? What do you have in mind?" I asked with a surprised look.

"Alright... Here's what we are going to do..."

**Stop music  
**

* * *

"Well, hello there, Spirit of Faith." Wigglytuff said with a smile.

"You know about the legend?" I asked with a surprised expression on my face.

The fairy-type responded with a giggle. "Yup! I never imagined that Ri would turn out to be this hero from Alteal."

That confirmed my assumption that he already knew who I was.

"So you really know that it's me... I... I'm sorry..." I said, letting my head sink towards the ground. "For hurting the others... For the lies..."

Wigglytuff's tone got serious all of a sudden. "My friend... I'm not angry or anything... I just really want to know why you did all of this."

"Should I tell you my whole story?" I asked.

"We have time, don't we?" he said, sitting onto the desk behind him. He then indicated me to sit down onto a chair that was next to his table.

"Alright... This is going to take a while..." I said, pulling the chair in front of the fairy-type and sitting down on it.

...

I then told him the whole story... Just like I did with Cobal yesterday.

...

...

...

"... and then we came here to Treasure Town to find out what had happened at the main square." I finished.

My head sank towards the ground again. "I'm sorry... I should have been honest with all of you from the beginning."

I clutched my paws, which were placed onto my thighs. "They're gone... Because of me... Dusknoir is going to do who knows what to them... All because of me."

The fairy-type hopped from his desk and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Don't blame yourself like that. Who knows what could have happened if you told us the truth right from the start."

I faced him again. "S-so you believe me?"

"You are the Spirit of Faith after all... There has to be some kind of catastrophe going on if you are here right now." he replied, taking his hand away again. "And the whole story with the Time Gears sounds believable too."

I responded with a warm smile. "Thank you."

"No, problem... Princess." the fairy-type giggled.

I frowned in response to his tease... "Ugh... Can we stay serious, please? Only for once?"

"Hihihi! Alright. What do you plan to do now?" he asked.

"Uhm... I want to save Grovyle and my friends... But I have no idea how I could get to the future." I replied with a sigh. "I will collect the Time Gears again and finish what Grovyle and Riley started."

"I think that won't be easy my friend... Magnezone has sent out very strong teams to bring back the gears and guard them." Wigglytuff replied with worried look.

"Maybe some of them know about the Spirit of Faith and will just let me collect it... And if they don't... Well, I think Cobal and I will be able to handle them... After that we will go to Temporal Tower and stop this whole crisis." I continued.

"Do you know where this Temporal Tower actually is?" he asked.

"Uhm... No... Grovyle never told me about it's actual location." I answered, bringing my paw up to my chin.

"I know how I will help you then. While you are collecting the Time Gears, I will see if I can find that tower."

"What should we do about the other guild members and the Pokemon from Treasure Town?" I asked with a worried look, bringing my paw down again.

"Don't worry about them. I will handle everything while you're gone."

He had a nervous grin on his face all of a sudden. "At least I hope that I will!"

"Ugh... So they could try to arrest me when I come back with the gears..." I frowned.

"Well, at least the guild is going to stay behind you." he said with a smile.

Wigglytuff seemed to remember something all of a sudden.

"Oh, there's something I have for you!" the fairy-type said, walking to one of the treasure chests that were standing in the room.

After fiddling around with it for a moment, he pulled out two pouches and a pair of broken desert goggles.

"That's the stuff the Sableye took from you!" Wigglytuff explained, handing the items over to me.

"Thank you." I said, grabbing the pouches with my right paw and the goggles with my left one.

I inspected the goggles again. They were dusty and the left glass was broken. A weird feeling rushed through my head while I looked at them... Just like it usually did. The way they were laying in my charred hand... Something was strange about it. It was almost as if my brain tried to connect the...

"Ngh!" A jolt of pain rushed through my head. A memory flashed through my mind.

_"I... I'm sorry... I never wanted to hurt you..."_

A muffled voice echoed through my head an my left arm began to hurt as if it was on fire. My breathing turned hectic as I tried to dull the pain that way somehow.

I had to drop the pouches in my right paw and brought my hand up to my left upper arm.

After a couple second, the pain and the headache slowly faded... My body calmed down again and my breathing returned to normal.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Wigglytuff asked with a worried voice.

I let go of my left arm and moved it around a bit. "Ugh... I'm okay... My arm just hurt all of a sudden."

The fairy-type picked up the two pouches from the floor and handed the to me again. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, grabbing the pouches again and getting up from the chair. "Can you keep my identity a secret until I leave with Cobal?"

"If that's how you want it to be, sure thing!" he replied.

"Thank you, Wigglytuff." I walked up to the door of his office and opened it. "See you at the morning briefing. Good night."

"Good night, princess!" Wigglytuff teased.

I was a little annoyed but somehow I couldn't help myself. Smiling at him one last time, I stepped out of the room and closed the door behind me.

It was already nighttime... Only a faint rays of moonlight from the windows were lighting up the main room of the guild.

I knew which room Chatot and Wigglytuff were talking about earlier, so I slowly made my way to my old room... All the doors on the hallway were closed so I assumed that all the other Pokemon were already asleep. Telling Wigglytuff my story took a while after all.

I opened the door and stepped into my old room. The moonlight from the window on the opposite side of the room was lighting up everything. Cobal was sitting on Ozu's bed in a meditating-position. His equipment was placed on the table that was standing on the right wall of the wall.

"All done?" the Lucario asked, opening his eyes.

"Yeah..." I replied, closing the door behind me.

"What was that all about?" he questioned.

"I just had a little chat with an old friend." I answered, walking up to the table and putting my two pouches onto it. "Wigglytuff is really something else..."

Untying my belt from my hip, I began to explain my whole conversation with the guildmaster.

...

I was sitting on my own bed when I finished to explain the Lucario what was going on.

"I see... So we are going to start to collect the Time Gears tomorrow." he concluded.

"That's right." I replied.

"So which one are we going to get first?" Cobal asked.

I folded my arms and closed my eyes.

'Which one? Okay... Crystal Cave, Quicksand Desert, Fogbound Lake, Limestone Cavern or Treeshroud...'

I opened my eyes and looked at my right paw. "Uhm... Cobal..."

"What is it?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Remember the symbol I told you about? You know, the one that showed up whenever I was near a Time Gear." I replied, looking at him again.

"What about it?" His expression turned even more confused.

"I... I think it's connected to the Time Gear from Treeshroud Forest somehow..." I answered.

"Like how?"

"I'm not sure... The Time Gear from that forest is missing and Grovyle found me at the place where the Time Gear should have been. That has to be connected somehow."

"Are you trying to say that you somehow stole the Time Gear without knowing?" Cobal asked.

"Maybe... Ugh... I don't know... Maybe I 'fused' with the gear somehow... That would be an explanation on why the symbol on my paw looks exactly like a Time Gear. It would also somewhat explain why it only shows up when I'm near another Time Gear... Do you know about any power of the Spirit of Faith that could cause something like that? Fusing with a Time Gear?" I explained.

"Maybe the Spirit of Faith's power to time-travel has something to do with it. You would actually be a Pokemon from another time and not some kind of ghost." he replied.

"But how are we supposed to get the Time Gear then?" I asked.

"If it really has something to do with your powers then you should be able to reverse the effect, right?" the fighting-type continued.

"But how?"

"Have you tried to concentrate your aura into the spot where the symbol should be?" the Lucario replied.

I unfolded my arms and held up might right paw in front of me. It began to emit my usual blue aura when I began to concentrate my energy onto the back of my hand.

But other than that, nothing happened.

I let out a sigh of disappointment. "Nope..."

"Hmm... Aura seems to have nothing to do with it then... Maybe the energy that radiates from the other Time Gears is the reason it appears." Cobal responded.

"So we need another Time Gear to find out more about it..." I replied, bringing my paw down again.

"I believe so... Anyway, have you made your decision?" he asked.

'Which one then? Should I go in the same order Grovyle collected them? Hmm... We would go to Limestone Cavern then. But I have no idea how far away it is from Treasure Town... Fogbound Lake, Quicksand Desert and Crystal Cave were reachable in about a day... Alright... I know which one...'

"Fogbound Lake..." I answered. "We can be there in a day and I already know where the Time Gear is hidden."

"We should get some sleep then..." he suggested. "It's going to be a long walk tomorrow."

I nodded. "Right."

The Lucario laid down onto his bed and closed his eyes.

I did the same and placed my head onto the hay underneath me.

My mind had a lot of things to worry about.

'Riley, Ozu, Grovyle... I hope they are okay...'

After bringing my body into a comfortable sleeping position, I slowly began to drift into sleep.

Tomorrow we would begin to collect the Time Gears again.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 26**

* * *

On the next Chapter:

"Your friend is dead."

"Care to have a quick sparring match before we continued? Would be bad if we got rusty, right?"

"Aura Sphere?"


	27. Tricks

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - SoF - Twist in Time**

* * *

**Update #25:**

**Here's the team that Ri and Cobal will have to fight:**

Celsius the Kirlia

Corrine the Eevee

Siavon the Haxorus

Geez... That decision was really hard but Siavon really fits into the strategies of his team mates.

FlameUser64 has sent in some suggestions and battle-strategies that would work very well with the Haxorus. Also, there's something special I have planned with a dragon-type anyway.

As for the remaining OCs... I might use them in a different part of the story...

Or...

In a completely different one? *cough*

Anyway, I hope that you will like the fight that I'll come up with! Already have a couple of scenes planned out...

Back to the story!

* * *

**Chapter 27 - Tricks  
**

* * *

"Knock them out." one of the Sableye, that had come into our cell, ordered.

Three of the dark-types came closer to Ozu, Grovyle and me, each of them having a wooden club in they hand.

'Ugh... This is going to hurt but its a part of Grovyle's plan.'

I turned my head to Ozu, who had his eyes shut and head pointed downwards. The fire-type probably just wanted it to be over quickly. I knew that he didn't like pain...

A wide grin had formed on the Sableye's face that was approaching me, when I turned forward again.

Gritting my teeth, I looked at Grovyle. The grass-type also had his eyes closed... The difference with Ozu was that he, unlike the fire-type, had a smirk on his face.

Focusing on the dark-type again, I saw that it had just raised the club above it's head.

I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable...

'Crap...'

For a split second, I was able to feel a searing pain at the left side of my head. Then, I lost consciousness.

...

...

...

"Riley!" A voice said, pulling me back into consciousness.

The left side of my head hurt like hell and everything was spinning.

"Ugh... Crap..." I muttered, opening my eyes.

I was somewhere in a roomy circular room. In front of me was the blurry image of a big metal door. Looking down at my body revealed that I was tied to something behind me with a thick rope. My feet barely touched the stone floor that was underneath me.

"Riley! Wake up!" This time I was able to identify the voice as Ozu's.

As it was coming from my left, I turned towards the direction of its source.

A Chimchar was tied onto a grey stone pillar with the same kind of rope I was.

"Ozu? Ugh... Where are we?" I asked, slowly becoming aware of the situation again.

"I don't know." he replied, giving me a worried look. "We're not in the same room as before. Do you think that this is the room Grovyle was talking about!"

I turned to my right to further inspect the room. Next to me was yet another stone pillar. Grovyle was bound onto it and seemed to be unconscious.

"I hope so..." I answered, focusing my look on the grass-type.

"Grovyle! Wake up!" I yelled at him, trying wake him up again.

The grass-type let out a couple of grunts in response, before he slowly rose his head and opened his eyes. Just like earlier, he blinked a couple of times and scanned his surroundings before he faced us.

"Ugh... That could've been more pleasant... But at least they brought us where I thought they would." he said with a faint smile.

"So this is the execution-chamber..." I replied, looking around the room.

"But where is Ri? You said that they would most likely bring her here too..." Ozu asked with a confused look on his face.

The Grovyle next to me grit his teeth. "This is bad... If Dusknoir's men don't take her here before the next step of the plan, we might have to make a little detour on our way out..."

"Are you sure that it will work?" the fire-type to my left asked.

Grovyle responded with a sigh. "We went over this three times in the cell... As long as you make a good job on your part, I'm sure of it."

"Ugh... But I'm not sure if I can pull it off..." Ozu replied.

"Come on, Ozu! It worked fine in the cell, so I'm sure that you can do it again!" I threw in, trying to cheer him up a bit.

His worried look turned into a smile. "Okay."

"Riley... Don't forget your role." Grovyle said, drawing my attention back to him. "Once the distraction is up, I need you to get Ri. There might be no opportunity to fill her in, so make sure that everything goes as planned."

I nodded. "Got it."

Just when then, I heard how the big metal door in front of us opened. A group of Sableye entered the room and lined up next to the entrance. Shortly after them, Dusknoir floated in too. The dark-types quickly closed the door behind him and walked up next to him. There was still not a trace of Ri.

"Where's Ri?!" I yelled, before the ghost-type could even begin to talk.

Dusknoir had a grin on his face when he answered. "Why would you care? I thought you hated people like her. She lied to you ever since you met, didn't she?"

"Just tell us where she is!" I replied, gritting my teeth. He might have been right, but I didn't care at that moment.

"Why should I? You are not really in a position to give orders." he chuckled.

"What did you do to her?" Ozu asked.

"You really want to know that badly?" the ghost-type said while he turned to Grovyle. "What about you Grovyle? Do you want to know too?"

The grass-type didn't answer and simply replied by turning his head away from Dusknoir.

"No?... Well, that's too bad. Now you will never know that we have already disposed of her." the ghost responded with a tone of indifference in his voice.

"D-disposed?!" I repeated, making sure that I heard him right.

"Yes." Dusknoir chuckled again. "Your friend... is dead."

My eyes widened.

"W-what?" Ozu asked with a shocked look on his face.

Grovyle's mouth was wide open and the look he had in his eyes told me that he didn't quite believe Dusknoir.

"The Riolu is dead. The wounds from your fight with her finished her off." Dusknoir clarified.

"N-no! How could..." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"The cut on her shoulder made her lose a lot of blood... She died before we could even lock her up." he continued. "She was already unconscious after the time-travel and when my men checked her body, she had already bled out."

"S-she... She bled out...?" I repeated.

It took me a while to process all the information.

'She... She did have an open wound on her shoulder. Did... Did she really bleed out from that? Is she... Is she really dead? I... I didn't even care if Dusknoir would kill her in the future before... But... That was before I knew that she was trying to do the right thing... I...'

I couldn't help myself but to feel a deep sadness rise up inside of me... I was angry at the person that lied to me and Ozu but... My heart felt as heavy as a rock when I realized that we would never see the person I saw Ri as, before I knew who she really was, again. The Ri that was a member of Team Ignition...and...my friend.

...

"You're lying!" Ozu's voice echoed through the room.

I turned to my left and locked at the Chimchar. He was gritting his teeth while his eyes were focused on the ghost-type in front of us. "There's no way she's dead!"

Dusknoir responded with a confused look. "What? You don't believe me?"

"Why should we believe you after you tricked Riley like that?!" the fire-type answered.

The ghost shrugged. "Well, I don't really have a reason to lie right now, do I? If Ri was still alive, she would be executed with you right now..."

My partner didn't know how to respond. Breaking eye-contact with the ghost-type, Ozu let his head sink towards the ground.

"Dammit." Tears were forming in his eyes.

I had already accepted that she was gone before that but the way, Ozu lost his hope like that sealed it for me.

Closing my eyes, I bit my lip. 'She's really dead...'

The side inside of me that still felt some friendship towards her was just about to burst out in tears, however, the anger from her lies kept them at bay.

I opened my eyes again and looked at Grovyle who was gritting his teeth. It looked like he was in deep thought.

Dusknoir chuckled and continued. "But maybe I'm just saying this to discourage you before you join her... Maybe I really am sadistic like that and enjoy your suffering... Who knows?"

The ghost-type then looked at the Sableye who were standing next to him. They responded immediately began to walk towards us.

A loud roar echoed though the room all of a sudden. The Sableye that were approaching us stopped and turned around to Dusknoir who was having a disappointed look on his face.

The ghost-type sighed. "I would have loved to see you three dying but my master calls me... Sableye, finish them and dispose of their bodies."

He then turned around and floated to the big metal door in front of us.

When the ghost was gone, the Sableye faced us again and continued to begin with our execution.

The dark-type's had almost reached us when Grovyle gave the signal to begin with our plan. "Ozu! Now!"

Ozu shook the sad expression out of his face and took a deep breath, before he spat out a cloud of black smoke from his mouth. It quickly filled the room, occupying the vision between us and our executioners. The dark-type's yelled and tried to orientate themselves in the thick cloud.

'He did it... It took him only half an hour to learn Smoke Screen.'

Now I only had to wait for Grovyle's part. I didn't have to wait very long as the ropes around my body loosened at the exact moment I thought about him.

The grass-type grabbed my arm and pulled me to my left, where Ozu was. I was only able to gain input from my surroundings through my ears, as the thick smoke was occupying my vision too.

It sounded like a piece of rope was cut next to me before Grovyle let go of my hand.

Knowing what would come next, I closed my eyes and put my paws on my nose and mouth. Grovyle grabbed my shoulder and pushed me toward the ground.

I let out a little grunt when I felt the pain from the impact with the ground. I could feel that I was laying in a hole as it was just big enough for my body to fit in.

'Alright... Here comes the next uncomfortable part...'

Taking one last deep breath, I braced myself to be buried alive.

It didn't take long until I felt how the first hump of earth was thrown on top of me. In a matter of seconds, my whole body was buried under a thin layer of earth, cutting me off from the world above me.

Silence. My ears were surrounded with earth but luckily none of it managed to enter them.

...

'Oh my god, this sucks...'

...

My lungs were beginning to order for fresh air.

'Already?! It's only been ten seconds! Or five? Ugh...'

The silence and the pressure on my body were slowly making me panic. That my lungs desire for fresh air was getting more noticable with every second didn't help either.

'Twenty seconds? How long have I been down here? How long are they going to take?'

...

My chest began to hurt.

'Thirty seconds? Ugh! Grovyle! Why did I agree to something like this?!'

...

My lungs were screaming for air now.

'I... I need to get out of here. I'm sure that the Sableye are gone! I... I need to breath!'

Panic was overcoming me and I tried to move my body. The earth that completely surrounded me and the weight from the soil above me didn't allow me to do so.

'Air! I need to breath!'

My lungs felt like they were on fire and their screaming for air was occupying my mind.

...

'Grovyle! Ozu!'

...

I began to feel tired and the desire to breath was drifting into the background.

'Air...'

The awareness of my body slowly faded away too.

'Ozu...'

...

...

...

The missing oxygen in my brain made me slowly drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Errr... Excuse me. Your... errr... highness? Is it okay if I wake you two?" a voice said, waking me from my sleep.

I opened my eyes and got my body into a sitting-position. After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I looked around to find the source of the voice.

Loudred was standing in the doorway of the room, giving me with a nervous look.

"Huh?" I asked, giving him a confused look.

"P-princess... The daily morning briefing will begin shortly... W-would you like to accompany us?" the normal-type asked, doing his best not to yell.

I had to chuckle to his struggle to keep his voice down.

"Yes, we'll be there." I answered, giving him a smile.

Loudred closed the door again and I looked at Cobal who was still laying in his bed.

The Lucario was still asleep. His arms and legs were laying spread on the hay and a huge snot-bubble was coming out of his nose.

It was not something you would expect from a royal knight.

I got up from my bed and stretched my body, trying to get the last bits of sleep out of it. I then approached the Lucario which was snoozing in Ozu's bed.

"Uhm... Cobal?" I said. "Hello? Wake up."

No response... At first. The bubble on his nose busted and a loud snore escaped the fighting-type's mouth.

I sweatdropped when a bubble that was twice as big as the last one formed on his nose.

Squatting down to him, I poked the Lucario's head with my paw. "Cobal!"

His second bubbled busted too and his body shot into a sitting position.

"Huh? What's wrong?" the knight looked hectically around in the room, trying to get aware of his surroundings.

"It's morning." I said, drawing the fighting-type's attention to me.

"Wha... Err...Okay." He blinked a couple of times and rubbed his eyes with his right paw.

I got up to my feet again walked over to our gear.

My eyes focused on my two old pouches. I grabbed my 'hip-pouch' in which I always stored my explorer-badge. Cobal had just walked next to me when I opened it to look for my badge.

The pouch was empty, putting a confused look on my face.

Grabbing my new belt, I tied the pouch next to the other pouches on the belt.

I then grabbed my other pouch... The one Grovyle had given me.

Two Oran Berries and the Luminous Orb were still inside.

After tying it onto my right upper leg, I began to put on the rest of my new equipment.

When both of us were ready, Cobal opened the door and stepped out of the room.

I inspected my old room one last time before I followed him and closed the door behind me.

The guild members were already lined up in front of Wigglytuff's office when we arrived.

Everyone's eyes focused on me when we walked out of the hallway and got to the spot where me and my friends used to stand.

A lot of mumbling could be heard between the Pokemon. Some of them were giving me nervous looks. I assumed that they were debating on talking with the 'princess' that was among them.

Chatot and the guildmaster stepped out of the office when Sunflora and Bidoof were just about to approach me.

They quickly got back to their place and Chatot began with the morning speech.

...

"HURRAY!" everyone cheered like usual.

After that, everyone's eyes focused on me and my partner again.

...

"Uhm... Morning?" I said, feeling a little uneasy because of the stares.

Chatot cleared his throat. "Ehm... I assume that you will continue with your search for Ri... Err... Princess Olivia. Would you like to say a couple of words before you leave, your highness?"

"Well, the only think I can say is thank you. I... Uhm... The royal family of Alteal thanks you for your hospitality." I replied with a somewhat nervous smile.

"Oh, there's no need to thank us! It was an honor to have such rare guests." the flying-type exclaimed.

Wigglytuff took one step towards me, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Princess Faith."

He let out a short giggle before he continued. "We would like to lead you to the exit and say a proper good-bye to you!"

"Uhm... Okay." I returned, following the fairy-type, who was already walking towards the ladder.

Cobal and I followed him out of the guild and stopped at the edge of the stairway that lead to the crossing. The other guild members followed too and lined up in front of the Wigglytuff-shaped tent.

"Alright, everyone! Let's say a proper good-bye to our new friends!" Wigglytuff ordered with a wide smile.

"Good-bye!" the whole guild exclaimed.

"Thank you." me and my partner replied.

I then held my right paw out to Wigglytuff, who was immediately accepting my handshake.

"Good luck! Friend!" the fairy-type said with a wide smile.

I nodded in response and let go of his hand. "Thank you."

Cobal and I then said good-bye one last time and walked down the staircase.

On the crossing, we took the path to our left. We had just left Treasure Town for good when the Lucario spoke up again.

"How did you manage to become a princess again?" the knight asked.

"Hey! It's not like I wanted it to happen!" I replied, feeling somewhat attacked by him.

He sighed. "If any of this leaks through to Alteal, I'm going to be in great trouble..."

"That's why were not going to lie to anyone else. You have seen in what kind of trouble my 'disguise' brought us." I returned with a serious voice. "From now on I'll only be myself."

"Are you sure about that?" the Lucario asked with a worried look. "You do remember that there's a bounty of ten-thousand Poke on your head."

"Well, they're looking for a Riolu and it's not like that I'll go around and scream my name into the air." I returned. "We'll just run into trouble if someone asks for my name..."

"Okay, then..." Cobal said, worry still noticable in his voice.

Just then we heard a scream from behind us.

"OH... MY... GOSH!"

Sunflora's voice echoed all the way from the guild to us. We had left Treasure Town five minutes ago and the distance between us and the guild was quite far, making the volume of Sunflora's voice surprisingly loud. It could have even been louder than Loudred.

"What was that?" Cobal asked. He stopped walking and turned around.

"I guess, Wigglytuff just told them." I assumed, keeping up the pace of my walk.

"Right..." The knight, caught up with me again and faced me, drawing my view at him again. "So which way should we take? The route along the coast and Mount Horn or the should we take the main road the runs through the middle of the continent?"

"Depends on which one is faster... Last time I traveled to Foggy Forest, I took the route along the coast." I replied.

"The coast-route is shorter but we can travel faster on the road... I think it would take us the same amount of time." Cobal explained.

"Well, let's take the road then. We won't have to worry about dungeons and wild Pokemon that way." I decided.

...

After about five hours of walking, it was shortly after noon, so we decided to take a break and have a quick lunch.

On the sides of the dirt road were forests and bushes. We walked up to a tree trunk that was standing just at the edge of the road and Cobal pulled out two apples from the slightly bigger pouch on his belt.

"Thank you!" I said when the Lucario offered me one of the fruits. I grabbed it and sat down on the soft, grassy floor that was growing out of the forest.

The fighting-type nodded and sat down on the trunk, taking the first bite out of his meal.

In a matter of second, my apple was gone and only its core was left in my paw. I turned to the bushes to my right and disposed of the remainings from the fruit by throwing them into the forest.

My view wandered back to Cobal, who was just halfway done with his meal. All of a sudden, a thought entered my mind.

'Do I actually know how strong my new partner is?'

Closing my eyes, I tried to measure his strength with the knowledge I had about him at that moment.

'He's able to mega-evolve but does that really say that much about his strength? I have never seen him in an actual fight... That makes me curious... Would he...?'

Opening my eyes, I faced the Lucario again.

"Care to have a quick sparring match before we continue? Would be bad if we got rusty, right?" I asked with an expectant look.

He took the last bite from his apple and threw the core over his shoulder before he answered to my request. "Hmm... We should prepare ourselves for possible resistance from the teams that guard the Time Gears... It would also be an unique opportunity. A match with the Spirit of Faith..."

Cobal got up from the tree trunk and gave me a confident look. "It's also a great opportunity for you to see how much stronger your evolution made you. I would like to allow the use of moves... Are you okay with that?"

A wide grin formed on my face as I got up from the ground. "So it's going to be a real match then..."

Cobal shook his head. "In a real match, I would use my sword and Mega-Evolution... This is just a battle to measure each others strength."

"But how am I supposed to measure your full strength if you don't give it your all?" I pouted.

The knight sighed. "We might have a real fight another time... First, we need to focus on collecting the Time Gears. We can't afford that one of us gets severly injured."

Somewhat disappointed, I pulled my sword out and pushed it into the ground in front of me. "Fine... Let's go then."

Cobal did the same and we created some distance between us and our equipment. The dirt road was just wide enough to act as a battlefield.

When we were apart far enough, I began to warm myself up.

The knight in front of me took one deep breath and exhaled through his mouth.

Both of us got into our battle-stance and met each others eyes.

Cobal's stance wasn't really a stance. He only took one step back with his right foot and turned his body sideways.

"Ready?" I called, taking one last deep breath.

"Always." the Lucario returned.

**BGM: Keep Pressing On - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (Extended) (Not the Variation-version)  
**

I immediately concentrated onto Extemespeed and dashed at him, pulling my right fist back.

His eyes locked onto my fist and when I was in reach to throw a punch at him, he simply sidestepped to move out of my way.

Gritting my teeth, I dug my feet into the ground and spun around, preparing a kick to the knights side.

My attack missed again as Cobal took another sidestep to move out of my attacks reach.

Taking one step towards me opponent, I quickly created an overcharged bone in my paw and launched it at the Lucario.

At the exact moment my baton left my paw, I concentrated on Extemespeed again and dashed behind him. It was the same trick I had used in my battle with Groudon at Fogbound Lake. He was caught in a situation where one of my attacks was guaranteed to make contact.

Cobal sidestepped yet again to dodge my projectile. Just like I anticipated him to do. A grunt escaped his mouth when a kick to his back pushed him forward.

The knight rolled forward and immediately turned around to face me again. While I landed on my feet, the bone I had thrown at Cobal made contact with a tree that stood on the sideline of the battlefield. It exploded, resulting in a small shockwave that blew a lot of dust into our direction.

All of a sudden, only stirred up dust could be seen where Cobal was standing. I wasn't even able to react when I felt how a hand touched my shoulder and turned me around. When I was able to see him again, a rapid series of punches was thrown into my chest and the air was pressed out of my lungs.

I quickly jumped back and got out of his reach, taking a deep breath to fill my lungs with air again. The Lucario immediately dashed after me, preparing another punch.

Concentrating on Extremespeed, I pushed myself towards my opponent and focused my aura into my right paw. Seeing everything in slow-motion, I was able to anticipate Cobal's movement and quickly evaded his punch. I then pushed my paw onto his belly, beginning to release the stored aura from my hand.

The Lucario's eyes widened when he began to feel the pressure from my Force Palm. The blast he was sent flying with was enormous as a shockwave was thrown into the air between us. The recoil was immense too. The blast sent me flying just like him. I landed painfully on my back. With one eye shut, I was able to see how my opponent crashed into a tree.

He let out grunt and landed back on his feet, clutching his stomach with his paw. The fighting-type growled at me and used Extremespeed.

His fist made contact with my face when I had gotten back onto my feet, making me shut my eyes. When I opened the again to face my opponent, he was already gone.

My ears twitched when I heard something soar through the air around me. The dust that was stirred from my Bone Rush, revealed that Cobal was dashing around me with and unbelievable amount of speed as my eyes were not even able to follow him.

I felt another attack to my right side, making me stumble to my left. I wasn't even able to regain my balance before yet another punch to my face pushed me to my right again. A kick to my stomach. Another punch to the right side of my face.

I wasn't able to counter any of his attack as the Lucario didn't even give me time to become aware of his position. Concentrating on Extemespeed, I narrowed my eyes to locate him somehow. The stirred up dust from before helped as it was trailing behind the fighting-type. Cobal was dashing at me from the left, preparing another punch towards my face.

Digging my left foot into the ground, I used the momentum from his last attack to spin my body around and prepare a kick with my right foot.

My opponent grit his teeth when my foot made contact with his exposed belly.

"Hyya!" I yelled, putting some force behind my kick. The Lucario stumbled back a few steps, giving me an oppotunity to counterattack. Keeping up Extremespeed, I ran after him and threw my right fist forward.

Cobal's eyes made contact with mine when he pushed his left foot into the ground behind him to regain his balance. My paw was just about to hit him in the face when his left hand wandered upwards, diverting my attack. Not only did he divert it, he also grabbed by lower arm. The fighting-type then quickly pushed his other paw onto my stomach.

Gritting my teeth, I braced myself to be hit by his own Force Palm attack. Not only did it feel like being hit by car when I began to feel the pressure on my stomach, it also felt like a stream of energy was shooting through each my organs. I screamed when the force lifted me from my feet and launched me backwards.

Just like Cobal before, I was sent into a tree that was standing on the side of the road.

I landed on my feet and fell onto my right knee. Holding my body up with my left arm, I rose my head and faced my opponent again.

"Enough?" Cobal asked, when he noticed that I was panting.

Shaking my head, I got back onto my feet and gave him a smirk. "You want to quit already? I expected more from you!"

The Lucario returned my smirk and got back into his battle-stance.

Doing the same, I locked my eyes with his again.

Concentrating my aura into my right paw, I dashed towards him again.

Cobal put his right foot behind his body and kneeled down a bit. He then held his two paws together at his right side, letting his aura flow into the space between them. A bright light began to form between his hands and quickly grew into a bright-blue sphere of aura.

The pace at which I was running at him was slowing down as my eyes focused on the blue ball of energy in his paws. The way the aura was swirling around inside the sphere gave me a strange feeling somehow.

**Stop music**

A jolt of pain rushed through my head all of a sudden. Another memory.

_I was somewhere in a courtyard. Two battlefield were drawn onto the ground on my left and a couple of wooden dummies were placed to my right. A blue paw entered my vision. A flame of aura was beginning to flicker inside of it, slowly compressing into a glowing ball of energy. The energy began to rotate inside of the sphere while it was growing in size at the same time. It was almost twice as big as the blue paw when suddenly...  
_

The sound of an explosion and a searing pain all over my body pulled me back into reality. I let out a scream while I was sent flying backwards and landed painfully on my back.

"Are you okay?!" Cobal's voice called through my muffled hearing.

I opened my eyes and was greeted with the blurry image of the sky. The front of my body hurt like it was on fire. A couple of streams of black smoke entered my vision. I already knew where they were coming from when I rose my aching body into a sitting position. A couple of burn marks were littered across my upper legs, stomach and chest. In general, I was covered with bruises and my fur was a mess.

"Ri?" Cobal asked, approaching me. The Lucario held out his paw to me when he reached me.

"I... What..." I brought my left paw up to my head and grabbed the knights paw with my right one.

"Why didn't you dodge? You stopped running and looked completely absent all of a sudden." he said, pulling me up from the ground.

"I... I just had another memory shred." I replied, letting go of his hand and bringing my paw down from my head.

"What did you remember?" Cobal asked with an expectant look.

"I'm not sure... I think I can show you." I said putting my right paw between us.

"Huh? What do you...?" He didn't finish his question as he understood what I was trying to do mid-sentence. "You remembered how to use Aura Sphere?"

"Aura Sphere?" I repeated. "So that's what it's called... Uhm... I'm not really sure. I'll try it."

Cobal and I looked down at my paw between us. I concentrated my aura into my palm and a small 'flame' of aura began to flicker in my hand. Just like in my memory.

I somewhat had an idea on what to do next. Concentrating my aura into one single spot, the energy began to compress into a small sphere.

"It's working!" I cheered with a smile, as the ball of energy began to grow in size. The aura inside of it began to rotate when the sphere had almost reached the size of my paw. Concentrating more aura into the sphere made it grow even bigger. I was able to hear a high pitched humming from the Aura Sphere all of a sudden. The rotating energy was beginning to leak out at a couple of spots.

"You shouldn't..." Cobal was beginning to say, but it was already too late.

The knight brought his arms up to protect himself from the sphere of energy. The stored aura began to release itself.

My eyes widened when the bright-blue light from the sphere engulfed me as it was blowing up right into my face.

At first everything was white and my body was covered with pain. It only lasted for a split second though as the pain suddenly faded away and my consciousness and vision drifted into darkness.

* * *

**End of Chapter - 27**

* * *

Plot-Twist?

Ri + Aura Sphere... Nope. ^^

On the next Chapter:

"We need to get back to the past and collect the Time Gears again."

"This is where we set up our camp, back at the Expedition."

"I'm Ri. And this Cobal. We're here to collect the Time Gear."


End file.
